Russian Roulette
by Kyandi-Akatensei
Summary: Freedom was not a right, but a gods given gift. That was how Roksana Volkov, a Russian born transfer student, saw life. So when she encounters rules and orders, her natural response is to rebel. But she may just have what it takes to blaze through the mafia world. If only she would listen to orders.
1. Rebellion

_**Summary:**_ Freedom was not a right, but a gods given gift. That was how Roksana Volkov, a Russian born transfer student, saw life. So when she encounters rules and orders, her natural response is to rebel. But she may just have what it takes to blaze through the mafia world. If only she would listen to orders.

Kyandi: Howdy there everyone! I'm Kyandi Akatensei!

Roksana: She'll probably insist you call her Kyandi-sama.

Kyandi: Only you have to call me that.

Roksana:...I refuse.

Kyandi: Of course you do. Anyway, I'm getting side tracked! A friend of mine, when I asked her what fandom she wanted a story for as a graduation gift, directed me to this awesome manga/anime. Of course, after I wrote the one-shot for her, I had to write a full length project.

Roksana: Even though she has like eighteen other works in progress.

Kyandi: I can manage them!

Roksana: If you say so. You know your limits better than me.

Kyandi: Damn skippy, I do! Now, as I was saying...I really appreciate praise or compliments, anything to boost my low confidence, and constructive criticism is always welcomed. I do learn from my lovely readers. Or...I try to. But please, if you feel the need to flame me...walk away. Walk away right now. I don't want to be rude, but I cannot stand flames. As my momma always told me, "If you don't have something nice or helpful to say, don't say anything at all".

Roksana: Good Golden Rule, there.

Kyandi: I know, right? So now that that's out of the way, everyone please enjoy and review.

Roksana: Kyandi-sama does not own Katekyo Hitman REBORN!

Chapter 1 Rebellion

Another morning...another explosion.

These days, it seemed that Tsuna's day wasn't complete without something blowing up or going wrong. The price of living with Reborn, it seemed. If it wasn't Lambo's failed attempts to kill Reborn, it was Bianchi's Poison Cooking making someone sick. How Yamamoto still thought this was all a game was beyond Tsuna.

Tsuna got off to school, dealt with Haru, and met up with Yamamoto and Gokudera for class. They knew something was up before they ever entered the classroom. The students were all in an uproar, chattering to each other with excitement. Kyoko came running up to Tsuna the moment he entered the room and she looked to be just as excited as the rest of the students in the classroom.

"Tsuna-kun!" she called.

"Good morning, Kyoko-chan. What's going on?" Tsuna asked.

"Yeah. Why's everyone so excited?" Yamamoto asked.

"We're getting a new transfer student today!" Kyoko said with excitement.

"A new transfer student?" Tsuna repeated.

The last transfer student they had gotten had been Gokudera and that had ended up with both Tsuna and Gokudera almost getting blown up and Tsuna gaining a subordinate that he didn't even want. He hoped this one wasn't another one of Reborn's recruited hitmen come to "test" his strength. After his run in with Hibari in the reception room not too long before, he didn't think he could take another so called test.

Before Kyoko could tell them anymore about the new student, though, the teacher called the class to their seats. Once everyone was seated, the teacher cleared his throat.

"We have a new transfer student today, coming to us all the way from Russia." the teacher said, gesturing for someone outside the classroom to come inside.

The door slid fully open and in walked one of the prettiest girls Tsuna had ever seen. Second to Kyoko, of course. She stood about an inch, maybe two, taller than him at five foot, five and had a full, mature figure. Her face was heart shaped with full, pink lips, a small nose, and eyes currently hidden behind sunglasses. Her skin was a fair porcelain, her hair long, a pale silver-blonde, and fluffy looking. If flowed out around her, curling around her body all the way to her waist. Her bangs swept across her forehead, parted to the left, and chin length forelocks clung to her cheeks.

She had a rebellious air about her. She wore her uniform skirt too short, had the first two buttons of her shirt undone, wore her bow loose, and wore white, thigh-high stockings in place of the school issued, black, knee-high socks. A simple, but elegant, silver cross hung from a thin, silver chain around her neck and a blood red ribbon was carefully tied around the slim column of her throat, the bow tied to the left. Four different earrings decorated her ears, drawing attention to them.

She was pretty, exotic, and just screamed foreigner.

"Class, this is Volkov Roksana-chan. Please treat her kindly." the teacher said.

Roksana bowed her head in greeting but not a word left her mouth. It was then, when the teacher turned to tell her where her seat was, that he saw the sunglasses on her face. He instantly reached out to take them, telling her she couldn't wear them, but was stopped when her hand shot up in a flash to swat his away. She didn't even seem to glance the teacher's way.

Though, with the sunglasses on, it was hard to tell.

She said something quickly to the teacher in heavily accented English, her voice coming out as a low and soft chime. The teacher must have understood what she said because he gulped, nodded, and lowered his hand. He gestured for her to take her seat.

Roksana gave him a bow of her head and turned to go to her seat. She ignored the whispering of the other students and took her seat by the windows looking out into the hall, instantly crossing her legs and leaning back in her seat. She never removed her sunglasses and never raised her head from her book. When the teacher called on her, she would answer without hesitation, her accent making her Japanese sound like a completely different language. She was still understandable. It just sounded different.

At lunch break, her desk was swarmed by students with lots of questions. "Where in Russia did you live?" and "Why did you move here?" and even more questions. Roksana didn't seem to mind all the questions, took it all in stride, and was actually rather cool about it.

"I lived in Moscow. Beautiful city...very cold." she said in answer to the first question, making the other students laugh. "I came to Japan because my mother loved Japan. I wanted to see what it was like. It's always good to learn from others in another culture. You never know what you might learn."

"Do you have any siblings, Volkov-chan?" one girl asked.

"Please, call me Roksana. And yes, I do. A baby brother, in fact. He's but a year old." Roksana answered.

She fielded off several more questions as she pulled a lollipop out of her pocket, unwrapped it, and stuck it in her mouth. She even got invited to join several others for lunch, but she turned them all down insisting that she would rather use the time to explore the campus. With that came offers to show her around, but she turned those down as well. She insisted that she needed to be able to get around on her own.

Tsuna just wondered if she was anti-social.

Roksana passed Tsuna, Gokudera, and Yamamoto as they were leaving the classroom. Tsuna wondered if she would be alright. There were a lot of things about her uniform that was against school rules. If Hibari saw her, she would face punishment.

Severe punishment of the likes she had probably never seen before.

But Roksana didn't seem to care about rules. She struted down the hall like everything was fine. In fact...she walked right past Hibari, not even bothering to pay him a lick of attention where others were clearing the way for him. She didn't even appear curious as to way everyone was scrambling in the opposite direction from him.

Hibari glanced after her, his eyes narrowing. Tsuna had a feeling that for her first day, Roksana was going to be in for one hell of a welcoming.

-0-0-0-0-

When she had originally asked her father to live in Japan, she hadn't expected such a big change. She had studied the Japanese culture, had tried hard to make it were moving to the country wouldn't be a culture shock, but it still hadn't prepared her for the life of Japanese public schools. Of course, her father had offered to help her keep going about her education as she had been her whole life, but Roksana had wanted to try something new, go about her own way.

That had led her to Namimori.

It wasn't considered the most famous or the most highly scouted from among the schools in Japan, but after the strictly dictated life she had lived up until then, she would have taken a shoe box in the slumiest slums of Japan's back streets if she had the chance. Anything that would give her more exposure to other people her own age. She had spent too much time locked up with old people.

She had been pleasantly surprised to start at Namimori and be readily accepted in her class. Too many people back home had avoided her for one reason or another. It was nice to be accepted so quickly despite them not knowing a thing about her. So many questions had been asked of her that it had almost made her head spin. Most of the students in her class had been eager to help her in any way they could. After seeing the look on the boys' faces, she had a good idea on why they offered.

After the studies she had been facing back home, she found her class work to be familiar, if not easy. Except math. She hated math. It also tripped her up, no matter how hard she worked at it. It took studying three times as hard to get a decent grade in math. Something that had always brought her father's strictness down on her head.

Something that scared the pants off even grown men.

Of course, a few teachers-more like all of them-tried to give her a hard time about her sunglasses, and her dress style in general, but all it took was well phrased warning and the teachers seemed to back off pretty easily. Roksana had her reasons for the sunglasses and was happy enough to have them leave her alone about them. She figured, by how quickly the teachers backed down, that they probably had students that gave them a hard time, even bullied them.

As if to confirm that, at lunch, while she was exploring the school, she had seen several large, bulky students who all seemed to pretty much support the same, and in her opinions, ridiculous, hairstyle. She couldn't tell one from the others. Not that she cared too. All of them also seemed to be supporting the same pinned on badge. When she had seen them, they had been reporting to a guy who wore his jacket hanging from his shoulder, a badge pinned to the left arm that read "Disciplinary Committee" on it. That must mean those thug-looking boys were apart of the committee.

Which meant, sooner or later, Roksana would have a run in with them.

Oh well. If it happened, it happened. She wasn't going to sweat it and she sure as hell wasn't going to change anything about herself to appease others. She had done that for far too long and wasn't going to do it anymore. They could all, as she had once heard an American say, "Kiss her where the good Lord split her.". She was done compromising on her own life.

After school, she went exploring a little more since the lunch break hadn't been nearly long enough for her to cover the whole of the school. She wanted to checked out a few clubs and committees as well and what better time to do so than when they were meeting after school? She passed a few of her classmates along the way. One of them, she had heard, was called No-Good Tsuna for his failure at both grades and sports.

Seemed like a mean nickname to her, even if it was accurate. She had always been told that if she didn't have anything nice to say than she shouldn't say anything at all. Of course, that had been her mother who had told her that. Her father had always told her that if a person was being a useless idiot, than she needed to kick them to the curb.

One could easily count the amount of friends her father had on one hand.

She had been exploring some of the more deserted parts of the school when she had seen them and she could have sworn she saw a baby sitting on Tsuna's head. Tsuna and this two friends threw her worried looks as she headed past them, but she ignored it. Mostly because she really, honestly, could have sworn she saw that baby. But she had to be seeing things, surely. Who in their right mind would bring a baby to school?

Correction, what teenage boy would risk his reputation by bringing a baby to school?

She found out soon, why they had looked worried.

And boy did it piss her off.

She had been passing through some kind of meeting hall or something, when two members of what she was now calling the Ridiculous Haircut Club, stepped in front of her, blocking the doorway she had been heading for. A glance over her shoulder showed her that two more were blocking any backwards retreating she could make. So they were going to gang up on her, huh? Good thing her father had treated her like a son and had insisted on self defense classes. The only classes he had made her take that she had actually liked.

But to be fair, she gave them one warning.

"Move or regret it." she told them simply.

Which, of course, only earned her laughs of mocking. Why was it that guys thought girls couldn't take care of themselves? Just because she happened to be smaller than them and a girl didn't mean she didn't know how to place her foot in their groins. She had given them their warning and started forward, expecting them to do one of two things; move or attack.

Of course it was the latter.

The first boy that reached for her wasn't expecting her fast reflexes. Nor was he expecting the solid kick to his family jewels until she delivered it. He went down easily and the other three came at her. The advantage of being smaller than them was that she was not only lighter on her feet, but harder to catch. Something that boys seemed to conveniently seemed to forget up until they were on their knees clutching some aching and bruised body part.

If she thanked her father for anything then it was for him teaching her that sometimes...she had to play dirty to save her neck.

Playing dirty was what usually won her a fight and she had been in plenty in her life. Back in the community she had lived in, in Russia, one little difference and a person was picked on relentlessly.

Case in point...Roksana, herself.

Thanks to the low blows and the considerable size difference allowing her to easy evade them, she dealt with the four goons and had all four laid out rather quickly. She was not ashamed to admit that once they were down from a kick to the nuts, she had hit them when they were down. Literally. She had a powerful enough of a left hook to render them unconscious.

That was what they got for messing with her.

"Seems they were useless."

Roksana turned upon hearing the voice. It was somewhat cold and definitely uncaring. The type of voice that said the bearer didn't care one bit about the people they had just sent to get the crap beat out of them.

She turned, her eyes picking out the speaker. She instantly recognized him as the guy the other boys had reported to. He was still wearing his school blazer hanging from his shoulders and was watching her slight intrigued, and very annoyed, grey eyes. She didn't know what she had done to annoy him when she was pretty sure she had never spoken to him, but if he wanted to pick a fight with her then she sure as hell could end what he started.

Her eyes swept him from head to toe. His posture was relaxed, confident. He obviously thought highly of himself and his abilities, whatever they were. He wasn't bad looking, was actually kind of cute, but she was sure he scared off any girls that could possibly have an interest in him. Personally, she couldn't muster any fear. Not when she was already a little annoyed because of his goons.

"Can I help you?" she asked, turning to completely face him.

Out of the side of her eyes, she noted three more people standing at the window, watching, but she didn't take her eyes from the boy in front of her. His eyes swept her from head to toe as well and he tsked lowly under his breath as his eyes fixed back on her face.

"Would you take off those sunglasses in front of the Disciplinary Committee President?" he replied.

Roksana's head tilted to the side, her long hair falling over one shoulder. Apparently he thought his title should be more than enough to scare her into doing what he wanted. Boy did he have another thing coming to him.

"I don't willing remove these for anyone. Least of all some committee president." she replied.

That didn't seem to go over too well with him. If it wasn't for her training in self defense, he would have slugged her right across the face. As it was, she danced smoothly out of his way, just barely saving herself from taking a tonfa to the face.

 _Where the hell did he hide_ _ **that**_ , she questioned herself, her eyes landing on the tonfa in his hand.

She readjusted her sunglasses as he turned a slightly surprised look on her. He hadn't expected her to be able to dodge him. She had good reflexes, but she wouldn't be able to continue to dodge him. Especially if she tried to attack him back. He watched as she shifted her weight between her feet, careful not to favor either foot. He realized, the moment she moved, striking with all the swiftness and ferocity of a coiled cobra, that either she had been in more than her fair share of fights or had had professional training. Either way, she hit hard and she hit fast, striking with the heel of her hands to save her knuckles a beating from hitting his tonfas.

The sound of the a door slamming open, rang through the room, but neither of them paid it attention, their eyes focused solely on each other. Roksana ducked her head back, avoiding another blow aimed for her face, caught his wrist with her right hand, and used the hold to keep herself from falling back on her butt. She yanked, pulling him off balance and regaining her own. Hibari was shocked when her left fist flew out, catching him on the chin with enough force to whip his head to the side.

He would admit one thing...she packed one hell of punch.

Roksana broke away from him, remaining gracefully on her toes. Across the room, Tsuna, Gokudera, Yamamoto, and Reborn watched the fight as Roksana and Hibari squared off. It had shocked the three older boys to see that Roksana could actually hold her own. She was light on her feet, graceful in her attack and defense, and flexible. But for all that she could fight and defend, Hibari was almost inhuman in his relentlessness.

He hit Roksana, full bodily, his greater size knocking her flat on her back. She was going to have a bruise on her back and an even bigger one on her ribs where his elbow had nailed her, but that was the least of her worries. One of Hibari's hands caught her at the throat, holding her down and the other snatched the sunglasses from her face, crushing them.

Hibari then saw the reason behind her wearing the sunglasses. Staring up at him were the palest pair of blue-purple eyes he had ever seen. What was so different, and even off putting, about the eyes was that spearing straight through the irises, like a bolt of lighting, was a streak of dark and very vivid, emerald green. The discoloration of her eyes, in some cultures, could be considered a mark of demon possession, branding her a demon child. Japanese was one of those cultures, hence why she had felt the need to wear the sunglasses.

She had been trying to save herself the scrutiny of others.

He couldn't dwell on that thought for something else caught his attention. His eyes were dragged down from her face to her chest as the front of her shirt started moving. To his surprise, a tiny, grey and white squirrel popped it's head up out of her shirt front. It wore a tiny, red ribbon bow around it's neck that was almost as big as it was. It blinked up at him for a second before, with no warning at all, it flew at his face, making him let go of Roksana in his shock.

He staggered back from her and Roksana jumped into action instantly. She pulled the indoor shoe off her foot as she flew to her feet and raised it over her head. The squirrel jumped off Hibari then and Hibari only caught sight of something swinging his way before Roksana hit him around the face with the shoe as hard as she could.

"Bad boy!" she yelled, hitting him hard enough to knock him back off his feet.

Shocked silence fell over the room as Roksana returned the shoe to her foot. Hibari pushed himself into a sitting position and looked up at Roksana, a hand to the cheek she had just hit with the shoe as she glared down at him. Instead of saying anything to him, she held out a hand.

"Pinattsu." she called.

The little squirrel came scurrying over to her, jumping up into her hand and climbing up her arm. It circled her neck before diving back down the front of her shirt. It didn't seem to bother Roksana that she had a small, furry creature running around inside her clothes. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at Hibari.

"You owe me a new pair of sunglasses, jerk." she told him with all the attitude she could muster before turning on her heel and walking away.

She was fiddling with her bangs, brushing them over her eyes as she walked past Tsuna and his friends. The boys turned to watch her as she left the room. Tsuna looked from the door, towards Hibari, before he scrambled after her. He didn't want to be in the room with Hibari if he lost his temper. Gokudera and Yamamoto followed him. Hibari watched them leave.

All he could think was that it seemed like this wasn't the first time recently that someone had smacked him with a shoe.

He hated that she had managed to get one up on him and he would repay her for it. Next time, she wouldn't so easily surprise him. She would learn quickly just why others avoided annoying him.

END

Kyandi: It's not the longest first chapter I've ever done, but there it is!

Roksana: You know, I didn't notice it at the time, but reading back on it now...it was actually pretty funny to hit him with the shoe.

Kyandi: Yeah, I thought so too. After seeing Tsuna do it, I though it would be funny to make it into a running joke of sorts. Believe me there's a lot more shoe slapping to come.

Roksana: Shoe slapping. I like it.

Kyandi: It's the Roksana version of a bitch slap.

Roksana: Now that's funny!

Kyandi: I thought so. Everyone please enjoy and review.

Roksana: We'll be back as soon as possible.

Kyandi: Bye-bye!


	2. Finishing What's Started

Kyandi: Hello everyone!

Roksana: Sorry it took us so long. Someone got caught up on another story.

Kyandi: Yeah, I did. Truth be told, I'm still caught up in it. I'm just taking a break to get this long awaited second chapter up.

Roksana: I end up fighting again.

Kyandi: Hate to break it to you, but...you're going to end up fighting a lot.

Roksana: I figured that.

Kyandi: Yep. So, on we go!

Roksana: If you insist.

Kyandi: Everyone enjoy and review. Please review.

Roksana: Don't beg for it.

Kyandi: Just say your line.

Roksana: Kyandi-sama does not own Katekyo Hitman REBORN.

Chapter 2 Finishing What's Started

Roksana was just calming herself from her annoyance when Tsuna and his friends caught up with her. Tsuna called out to her, calling her by her surname. Which still sounded strange to her ears when spoken with a Japanese accent. She came to a stop, though she really didn't want to face anyone without her sunglasses. She kept her hair between her and them as they came up to her.

"You can call me, Roksana." she told them.

Before Tsuna could say anything Yamamoto was suddenly bending forward in front of Roksana, looking up at her face. Roksana stiffened as his eyes met hers. To her shock, he grinned. She blinked back at his cheerful expression, wondering what could possibly be going through his head to have him grinning like that.

"Oh cool! I've never seen eyes like that!" he said cheerfully.

Tsuna and Gokudera joined him, staring at Roksana's eyes. Roksana wasn't use to people being more fascinated by her eyes than troubled by them. Even back home people had taken her eyes as a bad omen and had been put off by them.

What could she say...Russians were a superstitious people.

"Wow. They're two different colors." Gokudera remarked.

"It's, uh, called a Sectoral Heterochromia." Roksana told them, still shocked that they weren't acting as others normally did.

When all she got were confused looks, Roksana heaved a sigh. She had to remember that not everyone had heard of the term before. She only knew it because she had it. Unless she was talking to someone who had it or knew someone who did, or was talking to a doctor, most didn't know what it meant.

"It's a difference in coloration of the iries, meaning that one part of my iries are a different color from the rest. It can be inherited or caused by genetic masoicism, chimerism, disease, or injury. In my case, its genetic masoicism. A mutation in my genes, so to speak." Roksana explained.

"That's cool." Tsuna remarked.

"It's rare, actually. This type of Heterochromia is most commonly seen in cats and dogs. It's rare in humans. Less than one percent of the human population has it." Roksana told him.

"Is that why you were covering up your eyes with the sunglasses?" Yamamoto asked.

"Some cultures see this kind of thing as a bad omen or evidence of demon possession." Roksana answered lowly.

"That's stupid." Gokudera said.

"I agree, but not many people see it that way. If you don't mind me asking...is **he** always like that?" Roksana asked, gesturing back towards the room where she had left Hibari.

"Oh, you mean Hibari Kyoya. Yeah, he is." Yamamoto answered.

Roksana turned to look back down the hall. She had a feeling she hadn't seen the last of him. If he really had such a big deal about her sunglasses then he was going to keep coming back as long as she kept wearing them. Oh well. Sounded like a personal problem to her.

"You really shouldn't make him mad." Tsuna warned her.

"I didn't do anything to him. If he wants to get his underwear in a twist because I wear sunglasses, then that's his problem." Roksana replied.

"But you handled him pretty well."

Roksana's eyes fixed in on Reborn, who was sitting on top of Tsuna's head. She stared at him, blinking a few times as if dumbfounded.

"You're going to join to the family." Reborn decided.

"Reborn!" Tsuna protested.

"There's a baby on your head...and he's **ordering** me to do something. That registers in my no-go zone in so many ways." Roksana remarked.

All of their eyes fixed back in on Roksana, but she was busy looking at Reborn. Her hands had gone to her hips and she looked like she was ready to start being defiant. Or bite someone's head off. It was hard to tell just by her expression.

"Look, I don't do orders. I don't take them from anyone. Now if you want to ask nicely, that's completely different, but you **do not** order me to do anything." Roksana told Reborn. "So try again, kid."

Tsuna didn't think it was such a good thing for her to talk to Reborn that way since he knew just how easy it was for Reborn to pull a gun. One never knew when he might shoot them. Reborn, though, seemed to ignore everything she had just said.

"You have good reflexes. Lets see how good." Reborn said.

Roksana's eyes widened slightly when Reborn pointed a gun at her, aiming right between her eyes. For a moment before he pulled the trigger, her eyes crossed as if they were trying to focus on the gun. When his finger moved to the trigger, she snapped out of it. Roksana threw herself to the side just in time to avoid getting shot in the head. Her eyes went to the bullet hole now marking up the hallway wall. She then turned back to look at Reborn.

"Who the hell gives a kid a gun!?" she asked, her eyes instantly going to Tsuna, as if she was accusing him of giving Reborn a gun.

Tsuna threw up his hands in innocence, shaking his head. He had already been through one girl thinking he was corrupting Reborn with the mafia talk and guns when he had first met Haru. He didn't want to go through it again with Roksana.

"I didn't do it!" he insisted.

"I have a gun because I'm a hitman." Reborn said.

Roksana stared at Reborn. A baby hitman? She had heard of and seen some really strange things in her life, but this was definitely a first for her. Of course, given her father's line of work, she had heard of hitmen, had even had a run in with one or two of them, but a baby hitman!? Roksana started checking the back of her head.

"I must of hit my head when that Hibari guy knocked me over because I'm obviously hearing things." Roksana remarked.

But no. She found no bump on the back of her head, felt no sting of pain. Nothing to show she had hit her head in any way. She looked at Tsuna, Yamamoto, and Gokudera. It was clear by the questioning look on her face that she was hoping they would explain this all to her.

"One of you mind explaining this to me?" she asked.

"It's a long story." Tsuna said, heaving a sigh.

"I got time, if you do." Roksana replied.

"Um..."

Roksana turned to look at Gokudera as he suddenly spoke. His eyes, though, were focused on her chest, his cheeks turning a slight pink. His eyes were wide. Roksana looked down, finding that her squirrel friend, Pinattsu, was poking her head up out of her shirt. Tsuna and Yamamoto turned wide eyed looks on the squirrel as well.

"Oh! This is Pinattsu. She's a Northern Flying Squirrel. I watched an anime a while back and there was a girl in the show that had a pet flying squirrel. I thought it would be nice to have such a pet and had my father get Pinattsu. It just so happens that she likes to hide in my clothes just like the squirrel in the show did." Roksana explained.

Pinattsu came out of her shirt, climbing up her shirt to sit on Roksana's shoulder. The three boys stared at the squirrel. Yamamoto broke the silence with a laugh, holding out one hand for Pinattsu to sniff. The little squirrel climbed half onto his hand, sniffing it as if in search of something. Roskana dug in the pocket of her skirt and pulled out a small, draw string pouch. She dumped a few sunflower seeds out of the pouch and into Yamamoto's hand. Pinattsu rushed onto his hand then, sitting in the center of his palm to eat the seeds.

"It doesn't bother you that she climbs through your clothes?" Tsuna asked, watching the squirrel as Yamamoto gentle stroke her head with one finger.

"Not really. She tends to stay in one spot, really and I've had her for about two years now. I'm use to it. Besides, as you saw, she's a great little partner to have." Roksana remarked, referring to Pinattsu's help with Hibari.

"You'll get in trouble for having her at school." Tsuna told her.

"Yeah, we see how much I care about that." Roksana replied, gesturing to herself, referring to her clothes. "I'm not scared of that Disciplinary Committee president. If he wants to pick a fight with me, I can sure as hell finish anything he starts."

Reborn watched Roksana. She truly wasn't scared of Hibari. Even Gokudera, despite all his bravado when asked, was a little scared of Hibari. Though he seemed to harbor more anger towards the other boy than fear. Roksana though, just waved it off, not the least bit worried. As far as she was concerned, it was her body. She would dress it any way she wanted. It Hibari had a problem with that than he could just suck it.

"I'm more interested in this long story than I am in that jerk." Roksana said, her two toned eyes turning to Reborn. "I'm really interested."

From the tone in her voice, she wasn't leaving them a choice.

-0-0-0-0-

Thirty minutes later, they were sitting at the sushi shop owned by Yamamoto's father. Roksana sat at the bar beside Tsuna, Gokudera on his other side. The moment they had left the school, she had stuck a lollipop in her mouth. Since then, she had ate about four more. It seemed she had an endless supply of them, all in different flavors. Tsuna had a feeling she had a real sweet tooth.

Yamamoto, not long after they had arrived, had left to go help his father with something in the kitchen, leaving his two friends to explain everything to Roksana. Roksana listened carefully, one elbow propped up on the counter and her chin resting in her hand, her tongue rolling the lollipop around in her mouth. Pinattsu sat on the bar in front of her, nibbling on pieces of rice from the sushi Roksana had been eating. Now and then, Roksana's eyes would shift to Reborn as he ate, but they returned to Tsuna soon enough.

Tsuna explained to her how Reborn had shown up, posing as a home tutor, and how he had said Tsuna would be the next boss of the Vongolia Family in Italy and that he was there to turn Tsuna into a good boss. He told her of how Gokudera had come to Japan from Italy to test him, joining him when he deemed Tsuna a good boss and how Yamamoto, who thought the whole thing was a child's game, had joined them. He even told her of his run in with Hibari who had only been stopped by Reborn, gaining Hibari's interest.

Roksana listened to the whole thing and never once interrupted him nor tried to say anything really. She just continued to roll the lollipop around in her mouth.

"You probably think this whole thing is insane." Tsuna remarked when he was done, thinking she didn't believe a word he said.

"No, not really."

Tsuna and Gokudera turned surprised looks on Roksana, but she didn't look the least bit shocked or dubious. In fact, the glance she threw Reborn's way was that of enlightenment, as if something finally made sense.

"Really?" Tsuna asked.

Roksana's eyes returned to Tsuna and she shrugged her shoulders as if it were no big deal. He wasn't sure how it was done in Russia, but it was a big deal to him!

"We have mafia families and hitmen in Russia too, you know. In my father's line of work, you run into a hitman or two in your life. Granted, I've never heard of one as young as or as small as Reborn here, but hey...there's a first time for everything." Roksana replied.

Gokudera leaned around Tsuna to look at Roksana. He wanted to ask what her father did for a living but she didn't really look like she wanted to talk about her father. Though in all honesty, Gokudera thought she looked like she was a Daddy's Girl. Pampered, well provided for, spoiled. If he bothered to ask, though, Roksana would have told him just how wrong he was.

"Now that you understand, you will join the family." Reborn said, looking up at Roksana.

Roksana fixed her two toned eyes back on Reborn, stubbornness and defiance seeming to blaze through her gaze. Reborn hadn't phrased that as a request or question, but as an order and Roksana didn't seem to react well to orders.

"Uh...yeah, no I'm not." Roksana replied.

She was the first one to turn down Reborn when he wanted them to join. Even Yamamoto, who still thought it was a game, had agreed to join the family. Had even passed the test Reborn had put him through to become a member.

"In case you haven't noticed, or didn't hear me earlier, I don't take orders...from anyone. No offense, Tsuna, you seem like a great guy and possibly a great boss, but orders and I, don't get along." Roksana added, looking at Tsuna.

"You should join us!" Yamamoto said, cheerfully ignorant as he joined them again.

Yamamoto sat another plate of fatty tuna in front of Reborn. Roksana turned her eyes towards Yamamoto. While she was grateful to meet people who didn't stare at her or curse her upon seeing her eyes, she hated taking orders. The idea of being in a gang of any kind in which she had to take orders, made her skin crawl. She had had enough of doing what others told her to do in her life time. Not to mention that she was pretty sure she had started a long lasting issue with Hibari and she really didn't want to drag Tsuna into it when it seemed he was already scared of the other boy.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I'm all for making friends, really, but I have to say no to the mafia family." Roksana told him.

It was at that moment that Tsuna realized just how much Reborn had managed to eat while they were talking. He freaked out when he spotted the piles of plates around them. He really had a meltdown when Yamamoto's father told him the total for the bill. Roksana watched Tsuna in his meltdown mode, as if it truly amused her, before letting out a little laugh, surprising Tsuna and making him turn to her. Roksana, though, was looking at Yamamoto's father.

"I'll take the bill." she told him.

"What!? Really, Roksana-chan!?" Tsuna asked.

"Yeah, it's no problem. My allowance is generous and I never use it. I can cover the bill." Roksana said, fishing her wallet out of her school bag.

Sure enough she covered the bill easily, leaving Tsuna to heave a relieved sigh. They said their good-byes to Yamamoto and Roksana left with Tsuna, Gokudera, and Reborn. Roksana looked down at Tsuna when he heaved another sigh. She was unwrapping another lollipop, cotton candy flavored this time, and stuck it in her mouth, crushing the wrapper in her hand. She sucked on it for a moment before pulling it out of her mouth to speak.

"I take it that's not the first time he's eaten that much and left you with the bill." Roksana remarked.

"No, it's not. I can't believe you really covered the bill." Tsuna said.

Roksana shrugged her shoulders once more, popping the candy back into her mouth. The action spoke of indifference, as if she truly didn't care one bit. She didn't really.

"I never use my allowance. I never really got that whole shopping thing that most girls are obsessed with." Roksana said, waving a hand. "After a while, it kind of builds up."

That almost made Roksana sound like some spoiled, rich girl. She didn't say anything else to that and for a moment they walked in silence. Finally Tsuna looked over at Roksana. He had finally noticed that she was taller than him, then again some girls were.

"You know you're going to be in serious trouble with Hibari-san tomorrow." he told her.

Roksana glanced down at him as they came to an intersection. She shook her head at him as she came to a stop. There was a resounding crack as she bit down hard on her candy, cracking it into small pieces. She pulled the stick out of her mouth before chewing up and swallowing the candy.

"I'm not worried. He'll have to catch me first." she told him, giving him a wink, as she turned. "My house is this way. I'll see you two tomorrow."

With that, she gave them a wave and headed off in the opposite direction of them, already pulling out, yet another lollipop. The two boys watched her, both feeling that, given Roksana's hatred of orders and rules, their school just might become a battleground between her and Hibari.

Tsuna just hoped they didn't kill anyone.

-0-0-0-0-

The next morning, Roksana had her eyes out for Hibari. If anything was going to be started, then it was going to be him to start it. She never started anything. She just finished it. Entering the school grounds, she didn't see one sign of him and she made it to her class without coming in contact with him. Upon entering her class, her classmates gave her a warm greeting and Roksana returned it, once again grateful that she had such nice classmates. Tsuna looked up when Roksana walked in, noticing that, once again, she was wearing a pair of sunglasses and once again...she was sucking on a lollipop.

Yamamoto called a greeting to her, the moment he saw her. Roksana looked up and when she saw him waving to her, she dropped her bag off at her desk and approached them. They still had time before their class started.

"Morning, Tsuna. Hayato, Takeshi." she greeted.

None of the boys protested her calling them by their given names. In fact, Yamamoto grinned up at her as she dropped to sit in a borrowed chair from a desk in front of Tsuna's. She thanked the owner for the use of it, getting a smile in return and turned back to the boys. The smell of strawberries and vanilla wafted to them from her. Tsuna was pretty sure that was from her candy.

"You're going to have Hibari after you again if you continue to wear those." Gokudera told her, pointing to her sunglasses.

"I figured. Sorry, but I'm not comfortable with all the attention my eyes give me. I'd rather deal with him." Roksana replied.

Roksana looked around, as if searching for something, idly rolling the lollipop around in her mouth. When she didn't find it, she turned to Tsuna for the answer.

"Reborn isn't with you? I was sure he would follow you to school again." she remarked.

"He's here...somewhere. I'm sure of it." Tsuna replied, sounding resigned and put out all at once.

"And where's your little squirrel friend?" Yamamoto asked.

"Pinattsu? Huh...I'm not sure." Roksana said, raising her arms as she looked down at her own person. "She's here somewhere."

"How do you not know where she is in your own clothes!?" Tsuna asked, keeping his voice low.

That one sentence, if over heard, could be taken in so many wrong ways.

"She's pretty hard to notice if she doesn't want to be noticed. When she settles in for a nap, I can't find her unless I undress." Roksana replied, shrugging one shoulder.

This had Yamamoto laughing but Tsuna hung his head, shaking it at having yet another strange friend. Roksana wasn't that put off about it. If Tsuna had lived with Pinattsu living in his clothes like she did, then he wouldn't have asked the question in the first place. His expression even managed to put a bit of a smile on her face.

Class started and Roksana quickly finished off her candy and returned to her seat. There was one point during morning lessons when a couple of students, walking down the hall, passed by the windows between Roksana and the hallway. One of them, an upperclassman boy, glanced in through the windows at Roksana and came to a screeching halt, his classmate slamming into his back and spilling the books he was carrying. Instead of concerning himself with his classmate, he whipped back around to look at Roksana. He was sure he had just seen a squirrel peering up out of her shirt, but when he looked again, there was nothing there.

Instead, he ended up staring down her top.

Which had Roksana pulling her sunglasses down enough to shoot him a death glare. Jolted by the dark look, he didn't stop to get a good look at her eyes. He rushed to help his classmate gather the fallen books and hurried off down the hall. Roksana pushed her sunglasses back up as her classmates laughed. She shook her head and returned her attention to her text book.

At lunch, when Yamamoto invited her to join them for lunch on the school roof, Roksana accepted, pulling out a box of caramels and proceeding to eat them as they walked. Despite turning down Reborn's offer to join the family, she felt she had gained three good friends in Tsuna, Yamamoto, and Gokudera. She listened their banter and chatter as she ate her lunch.

Which consisted mostly of sweets.

Since they had already seen her eyes and they were alone, she had sat her sunglasses aside to eat. It was peaceful and nice, eating lunch with friends. Something she hadn't had back home and was more than happy to have now.

It was in the middle of that peaceful lunch that Hibari found her.

The door to the roof flew open, banging against the wall. Roksana, whose back was to the door, didn't need to turn to know it was Hibari. The looks on her new friends' faces as they looked over her shoulders, was enough to tell her who it was. Why he had to come and ruin her lunch, she didn't know. She heaved a sigh, deciding not to even bother turning around.

"Unless you're here to replace the sunglasses you broke yesterday, go away." she told him tartly.

Tsuna broke out into a sweat as he looked between Roksana's couldn't-care-less expression and Hibari's dark one. Gokudera and Yamamoto both had gone on guard, ready to fight if they had to. Roksana, though, didn't seem worried in the least. She continued to eat her lunch. She didn't see Hibari as he moved, so she must have sensed the incoming danger. She ducked, managing to spill her food as she did. His attack skimmed right over her head, ruffling her hair as it passed.

Roksana sat up straight once it passed and looked down at her spilled lunch. Tsuna watched as a muscled ticked below one of her eyes. She sat aside her bento box and got to her feet, grabbing her sunglasses and dusting off her skirt. She took a moment to return her sunglasses to her face before she turned to face Hibari, who already had his tonfas in hand. She adjusted her sunglasses, pushing them up her nose with one middle finger.

Basically flipping him off.

"Are you trying to start something with me, today too?" she asked.

"You're appearance is against dress code." was Hibari simple reply.

"And I care? Let me answer that for you...I don't." Roksana retorted.

The two glared at each other, staring each other down. Tsuna and Yamamoto cleared all of their lunches out of the way. They were pretty sure there was going to be another fight between the two. Especially since Roksana was too stubborn to change anything about her appearance just to please Hibari and Hibari was too use to being obeyed to back down.

"Just so you know, I came prepared for you today." Roksana said, reaching under her skirt.

Tsuna and Gokudera were about to freak out, until Roksana pulled something from under her skirt, where it was strapped to her thigh. When she held it in sight, it looked to be three, two foot long poles, attached to each other by short chains. With a practiced flick of her wrist, Roksana dropped the two end poles, holding on to the middle one and gave her wrist a flick. With the push of a hidden button, the chains shortened and the two end poles snapped into place, making the three separate pieces into one solid pole. The whole pole was about six feet long and while it didn't look like it weighted all that much, Tsuna didn't relish the idea of being hit with it as he was sure Roksana was going to attempt to do to Hibari.

Tsuna's first thought, though, was...how had she hidden that under her skirt!?

Hibari's eyes narrowed as they looked over the weapon. He struck without warning and Yamamoto had to move out of the way as Roksana back tracked to keep from getting hit. She swung out, her pole clashing with his tonfas. The weapon gave Roksana a greater reach than Hibari's tonfas, allowing her to keep a greater distance between herself and him. Hibari defended with one arm and swung out with the other. Roksana bent backwards, folding herself nearly in half to avoid a blow to the face. She dropped backwards and rolled, tucking her body in, carrying herself out of the way. She came back to her feet, swinging.

From the sound of the pole and tonfas clashing, the pole obvious was made of metal. It made a resounding ping of metal on metal every time the two weapons clashed. But Hibari was taller, bigger built and had more physical strength than Roksana. He pushed her back each time they clashed. Roksana defended herself, but she was slowly being backed up to the railing of the roof. From a past experience in which he had fallen through the railing, Tsuna knew the railing wasn't sound. So did Yamamoto. Both called warnings, but Roksana was too focused on Hibari to listen.

Gokudera didn't want to see Roksana get hurt and she was getting too close to the edge of the roof for comfort. He dashed in, hoping to help her, surprising her when he made a bee line straight for Hibari. Hibari turned his attention half way from Roksana and to Gokudera.

"Hayato, don't!" Roksana called, but Hibari struck before she could move to help her friend.

He hit Gokudera hard in the gut, knocking the boy back on his butt. Yamamoto and Tsuna rushed to his side, to check on him. Roksana felt her blood turn to ice in her veins. She had only known Gokudera a day, but he had been nice to her, was becoming a friend, and Roksana didn't let attacks against her friends, slide. She grit her teeth in anger.

Hibari perked up, half turning back to Roksana when he heard the clatter of her pole hitting the ground. He turned as Roksana, with all the speed she could muster in one go, darted at him. When she swung her hand, he caught a glimpse of her shoe just second before she hit him across the face with it...again.

"Bad boy!" she snapped, hitting him with all her might.

Hibari staggered, but kept his feet. He raised a hand to his cheek. That was twice she had hit him in the face with a shoe. And it was even the same cheek! He must be slipping if he let her do it twice. He turned a dark look on Roksana, but was surprised when her look was dark, almost murderous. She had removed her sunglasses and the two-toned eyes stared back at him, blazing with her anger. All of them, even Yamamoto and Tsuna could pick up on the dark aura that seemed to surround Roksana as she glared daggers at Hibari.

"If you want to pick a fight with me for the way I dress, than do so after school. Leave my friends out of it. Now get lost before I really lose my temper." Roksana snapped at him.

Hibari normally wouldn't listen to anyone, but picking up the fight after school happened to work out just fine for him. Lunch was going to be over soon and after school, there was less of a chance of anyone else stepping in on the fight. Roksana didn't let down her guard until the door closed behind him as he left. Then she whipped around, hurrying to Gokudera. She dropped to her knees beside him.

"Are you alright, Hayato? What the hell were you thinking? That was my fight." Roksana scolded as she leaned forward to peer up at his face.

Gokudera's cheeks turned pink under her intense stare and he scratched the back of his head. He hadn't expected her to be so concerned about him. Especially since it had started out with him being concerned for her.

"You were getting close to the railing. It's not very strong. You could have fallen." he explained simply.

Roksana turned her attention to the railing. He watched as her lips pressed into a mulish line and her eyes narrowed. Then she was turning her eyes back to him. Before he could stop her, she smacked him in the head with the shoe still in her hand. It wasn't as hard as she had hit Hibari, but it was still hard enough for him to grab his head in complaint.

"Hey!" he exclaimed.

"You goof!"

Gokudera froze when she fixed him with a stern, almost upset look. Roksana puffed up as if fighting with the urge to hit him again, just for good measure.

"What was that for?" Gokudera asked.

"Don't ever get yourself hurt because of me! What kind of friend would I end up being if I allowed you to get yourself hurt because of me and my fights? No kind of friend at all!" Roksana scolded.

Roksana sat back on her heels and heaved a sigh. She hated it when others got hurt because of her. And given her father's line of work, people got hurt defending her a lot as she was growing up. It made her feel about as big as a grain of sand when that happened. She gave Gokudera a pleading look that had his cheeks turning pink again.

"Please don't do that ever again. The same goes for you two as well." Roksana said, turning her eyes to Tsuna and Yamamoto.

She wouldn't let the subject go until all three boys agreed. Once they did, she nodded in satisfaction. With lunch over, she returned her shoe to her foot, and reduced her pole back to it's three part state and hid it back in it's hiding place. She apologized for dragging them, and their poor lunches, into her fight as they returned to the class. They forgave her quickly, but Roksana still felt bad. She vowed to pay them back later.

For now, she had a fight after school to deal with.

END

Kyandi: I would love to hit Hibari with a shoe.

Roksana: If he's going to act like a bad dog, then I'm going to treat him like one.

Kyandi: But he's not a dog.

Roksana: Uh-huh...sure. Whatever you say.

Kyandi: I'm not going to convince you, am I?

Roksana: As long as he keeps acting this way...no.

Kyandi: I didn't think so. Everyone, please enjoy and review.

Roksana: We'll be back as soon as possible.

Kyandi: Bye-bye


	3. Home of Volkov

Kyandi: Hello everyone! I have returned.

Roksana: She's recently had a mini explosion of muse for this story.

Kyandi: That's right, so I have a few chapters all ready for you lovely readers.

Roksana: You get a little glimpse at my home life in one chapter.

Kyandi: Yep. So everyone enjoy and review.

Roksana: Kyandi-sama does not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.

Chapter 3 Home of Volkov

After school, Hibari's pain in the backside followers found her as she waited under a tree in the school yard. She had been hoping he would just save her the trouble and back off, but if he wanted to go about it this way, she would just lay out these goons as she had the previous ones. She owed Hibari for his attack on Gokudera. She had managed to give Tsuna, Yamamoto, and Gokudera the slip after class, not wanting to get them mixed into her fights again, and was glad she did. When she found herself faced with four of Hibari's goons, she imagined Tsuna would have been freaked out.

Roksana waited, relaxed, ready for one of them to make a move, but none of them did. They were waiting on something and Roksana didn't have to be a rocket scientist to know what they were waiting for. She was proven right when two of them stepped aside and Hibari walked past them, towards her. He stopped when he stood four yards from her.

"Are you really going to insist on doing this again, just because of a few, minor, dress code infractions? You do know how this is going to end, right? Like the last two times, this is just going to end with me slapping you across the face with my shoe. I'm wearing boots right now. Do you know how much that is going to hurt? But, who knows...third time's the charm. Maybe I'll slap this ridiculous idea out of your head." Roksana said, sounding bored and a little annoyed.

So she could smack talk, it seemed. As if to prove how sassy she could be, her hands went to her hips and she thrust her chin into the air as if to show that he didn't bother her one bit and he wouldn't be bossing her around. Now or ever.

"You are ruining the image of my school. I don't allow for that." Hibari said.

"You know, usually I like persistence in a man, but in a little boy like you...it's down right laughable. Look, I'm not going to change anything about me or my dress style, for anyone. Least of all a power crazed delinquent like you." Roksana told him.

"I see." Hibari said simply.

Roksana's eyebrows snapped down as his goons began to close ranks around her. Roksana heaved a sigh and, after safely tucking her sunglasses away, reached under her skirt, pulling out the segments of her pole. She snapped the pieces into place, ready to fight. She would have liked to avoid another fight but apparently that wasn't going to happen unless **she** changed something about herself, and **that** wasn't going to happen.

The first of the goons attacked and Roksana smacked him hard in the gut with her pole. When compared to Hibari, they were nothing. Hibari, though smaller, was stronger and faster than them. And, though Roksana would refuse to admit out loud, Hibari actually had a functioning brain, where his goons just went with flat out, brute force and head on attacks. While that could work with some opponents, it wouldn't work with Roksana. She had reflexes too good to be taken down by a head on attack. The next boy ended up getting the end of her staff jammed up into his chin, snapping his teeth together on his tongue. Roksana watched as he muttered curses and clamped his hands over his bleeding mouth.

"Didn't anyone ever teach you to keep your mouth closed in a battle? You're likely to bite that wagging tongue of your's." Roksana said, reversing the swing of her staff to sweep the same boy's feet out from under him, sending him crashing to the ground.

A third goon grabbed her by the back of her collar, yanking her backwards. Roksana, as if she weighted no more than a rag doll, was picked up off her feet. She looked over her shoulder, displeased with being picked up by the scruff like a naughty puppy. The brute grinned, but Roksana wasn't really all that concerned. The moving of the front of her shirt, drew his eyes down to her chest just as Pinattsu flew free of her shirt front, hitting the boy right in the face. The small creature began to claw at his face, making him release Roksana as he cursed.

Roksana backed away from him, putting a good distance between her and his swinging arms. She didn't want to accidentally get hit by him. Instead of worrying about Roksana, though, he grabbed hold of Pinattsu and yanked her off his face. Bloody, little scratches decorated his face. Pinattsu squeaked in pain as he tightened his grip around her.

Hibari watched in surprise as Roksana's whole body tensed up, her eyes going wide. Rage was clear on her face as she rounded on the boy who currently had a tight grip on her squirrel. She stalked towards the boy, fury rolling off her in waves, killer intent thick about her.

How **dare** he hurt Pinattsu!

He would regret it.

"You bastard! Let her go!" Roksana snapped.

She didn't give him time to comply with her orders. She abandoned the use of her staff in favor of the use of her fist. She swung with all her might, her left fist colliding with his right cheek. His head whipped to the side and Roksana could feel the pain from hitting his hard head radiate through her hand and down her arm, but he released Pinattsu. Roksana, swore she also felt the boy's cheek bone snap under her punch, though she wasn't convinced that wasn't her hand.

Pinattsu flew at Roksana the moment she was released and Roksana caught the animal in one arm, holding her tiny form to her chest. Seeing his fellows smacked around, one now laying unconscious on the ground from Roksana's rage filled punch, the fourth goon backed away from her.

Still angry, Roksana rounded on Hibari. Her twin colored eyes blazed with her anger and he was sure she was going to charge him head on, but then, Pinattsu made a low noise of pain and instantly the anger drained away from her eyes and her expression leveled out until she heaved a sigh and ran a hand through her pale hair. She carefully sat Pinattsu on her shoulder and turned her eyes back to Hibari, looking bored.

"You know what...screw this. You aren't worth it. Just leave me alone and bug someone else." Roksana told him.

With that, she turned on her heel and walked away, muttering to herself in Russian.

No further words, no swat across the face with her shoe...nothing but a turned back. She was done with the fight and had made it clear. All because one of Hibari's goons had hurt her little squirrel friend. If there was one thing that angered her more than orders and rules, it was when someone hurt a defenseless, little animal. Hibari was surprised to see such a devotion to little animals in a girl who obviously got into a lot of fights. Then again, it kind of fit the tsundere type, which Hibari was starting to link with Roksana.

Once she was gone from sight, he looked around at his fallen followers. She had handled them as if they were no more than child's play. Perhaps this girl would be worth his interest after all.

-0-0-0-0-

Over the next few days, Roksana was allowed to have peace. Hibari didn't show up once. She was completely fine with that. He could vanish completely for all she cared. As the days passed, she developed a routine. In the mornings, she would meet up with Tsuna, Yamamoto, and Gokudera half way to school and the four of them would walk together. She would eat lunch with them, and usually hang out with them after school. This usually meant being around Reborn, Lambo, Haru, Bianchi, and sometimes even Kyoko from their class.

Today found Roksana covering a yawn as she leaned on the mop she was using to help clean the hall outside her classroom.

Tired, Roksana?"

Roksana looked over at Tsuna, who was hard at work, beside her. She had finally gotten him, as well as most of their classmates, to just call her Roskana. No honorifics added.

"More like bored." Roksana replied, pulling another of her infamous lollipops out of her pocket to unwrap it and pop it into her mouth.

"Yeah. Cleaning's so troublesome." Tsuna replied.

"I never have to do it, so I have to agree." Roksana remarked.

Tsuna glanced at Roksana as the two went back to work. It was comments like that, that made Tsuna wonder about Roksana's home life, what her family was like. Sometimes, it sounded like she might have a housekeeper at home, which meant her family was well off. Other times, it sounded like her home life was very strict. That being said, Roksana never really talked about her home or family, or he didn't really know. Opposite of her, Tsuna told Roksana every time something weird happened. Like when he ran into a strange, little boy with an egg-like head.

"It's you!"

Tsuna, snapped out of his thoughts, looking up, both him and Roksana turning when they heard Kyoko's exclamation. Kyoko and another girl were talking to the little kid that had helped Tsuna with a dog just the other day.

"You're the one from yesterday, when I dropped my wallet! Thanks for helping me pick up my money yesterday!" Kyoko told the child.

"Seems like a considerate child." Roksana remarked. "Most wouldn't have helped or would have kept the money."

Tsuna nodded in agreement. Just then, the kid rushed towards them, stopping in front of them to do what looked like a weird little dance, pointing upward. Without explaining a thing, the kid took off again, rushing away, leaving both Tsuna and Roksana confused.

"Are all children in Japan this weird? Are is it just the ones that are around you?" Roksana asked Tsuna, making him shoot a glare at her.

"You know this kid, Tsuna-kun?" Kyoko asked, walking up to them.

"He knew the cow kid from before too. Sawada is a specialist when it comes to strange kids, isn't he?" the other girl added.

"That's what I said." Roksana remarked.

"Don't say it in such a weird way!" Tsuna snapped.

Roksana covered a laugh. When Tsuna turned a hard look on her, she had already returned to her cleaning work. Tsuna finished his work and headed off to the roof, while Roksana went in search of Gokudera who was currently playing host to Pinattsu since the little squirrel couldn't stand the smell of the cleaning liquids they used to mop the floors. She found the boy at the school store, buying noodle bread. Something that sounded bad in Roksana's opinion, but Pinattsu seemed to love. Gokudera had one of the three he had bought, open and was feeding bits of it to the squirrel as she sat on his shoulder.

"I see you're spoiling Pinattsu."

Gokudera looked up as Roksana approached, a smile on her face. Since his attention was diverted, Pinattsu ran down his arm and snatched more of the bread, herself. Roksana gave a small laugh as Gokudera caught her and scolded the animal.

"I was buying it and she looked hungry." Gokudera replied, scratching the side of his head in embarrassment as Roksana took Pinattsu from him.

"She's always hungry, no matter how much I feed her." Roksana said, scratching the squirrel's stomach with one finger.

"Want one?" Gokudera asked.

"Do they have melon bread?" Roksana asked.

That was one of the first snack foods that Roksana had found she really liked after moving to Japan. But since she didn't normally shop at the school store, she wasn't sure they carried it. Gokudera grinned and turned back to snatch a melon bread for her.

"You like sweet things, don't you, Roksana?" Gokudera asked as they started walking, going up to the roof in search of Tsuna.

"Yeah, I do. My mother loved sweets too, so growing up, she would sneak them to me behind my father's back. He was really strict about everything I did." Roksana told him as she opened the wrapper on the bread and took a bite.

"And that's why you can't stand being ordered around." Gokudera stated.

"You know me so well." Roksana said sarcastically after she had swallowed her bite.

Roksana ate her bread, Gokudera still feeding Pinattsu bits of the bread he had opened, as they headed up to the roof. Pinattsu managed to get stuff and vanished down Roksana's shirt front just as they reached the roof.

"10th. Would you like to try the noodle bread I just got? It's a new product from the school store." Gokudera said as he pushed open the door and saw Tsuna.

Roksana stepped up beside him and turned a surprised look at Gokudera when the same kid she had seen downstairs while cleaning, landed in his arms.

"Gokudera-kun! Roksana, watch out! Hurry and throw that kid!" Tsuna yelled.

Throw the kid? Why? Was it some weird, Japanese game of Hot Potato? Apparently that was what Gokudera thought it was, for he threw the kid back at Tsuna. Tsuna freaked out, turned, and threw the poor kid once more. Reborn caught the child and threw him back to Tsuna who turned and threw him in another direction, only for Yamamoto to appear and catch him.

"What is this?" Yamamoto asked.

"It doesn't matter! Just throw it as far as you can!" Tsuna yelled.

Going into pitcher mode, a serious look falling on his face, Yamamoto threw the kid as far into the sky as he could. The sky lit up as the kid exploded, making Roksana blink up at the sky in a "what the holy hell" moment.

"What. The hell. Just happened?" Roksana asked.

No one could give her a straight answer at the moment. To get her answer, she ended up sitting in Tsuna's room, looking down at the kid, who, to her surprise, was in one piece. Tsuna explained everything to them and told them that the kid's name was I-pin. Gokudera tied I-pin up.

"You didn't have to go this far." Tsuna remarked.

"What are you saying? That little kid came to kill you, 10th." Gokudera replied.

"But he has such a kind heart." Tsuna argued.

"Apparently that kind heart isn't for you." Roksana said with a shrug of her shoulders.

Reborn stood in front of I-pin, staring at a photo that I-pin had been carrying.

"You were told to kill the one in the photograph?" Reborn asked.

I-pin nodded. Roksana leaned over to peer down at the picture in Reborn's hands and barely contained a grin from spreading across her face.

"This isn't Tsuna." Reborn said.

Gokudera and Tsuna turned to Reborn in surprise. All of this trouble and it wasn't even Tsuna that I-pin was suppose to be after. It wasn't even remotely close to Tsuna. Reborn showed the picture to Gokudera and Tsuna, showing them a picture of a man with an eggplant shaped head and a large nose. Roksana doubled over in silent laughter as Gokudera and Tsuna fell into a silent, dark mood. All that trouble just to find out that I-pin was horribly near-sighted.

After that incident, I-pin decided to stay in Japan and basically seemed to move in with Tsuna, just like Lambo. Roksana found this funny.

Tsuna...not so much.

The next day, Tsuna called Roksana to tell her that they had found out that I-pin was really a girl. Roksana, who was in the middle of something, barely understood what he was saying over the noise in the background. Whatever was going on at Tsuna's house, it was loud. Roksana stared at her cell phone, able to hear all of the noise even with the phone a good distance from her ear. Unable to understand anything being said or going on, on the other end, Roksana hung up, snapping her phone close. She knew one thing for sure...

Things in Japan were never boring.

-0-0-0-0-

Sunday saw Tsuna, Gokudera, and Reborn helping Yamamoto with a large sushi delivery for his father. They ended up in the richer side of town where houses were huge, yards were professionally cut, and fancy security gates kept unwanted visitors out. The house they were delivering to was easy to find. They dropped the delivery off and left, only to end up getting chased by a large guard dog that had gotten out of it's yard. To escape the dog, the three boys climbed a fence, Reborn following though he wasn't worried about the dog in the least. The yard they landed in was perfectly trimmed, had a fountain gurgling away in the middle of a garden of different types of flowers.

The house the yard belonged to, was a large, three story, grey affair that had ivy curling up the sides in a decorative way. It was a large, sprawling mansion, it's balconies decorated with iron railings. It was clearly a Western design and whoever lived there, had the grounds well cared for, the stone fence around the grounds effectively blocking the sight of those outside. The boys looked around, taking in the yards with awe.

"This place is huge." Tsuna remarked.

"And fancy." Yamamoto added.

"Dog." Reborn suddenly said.

"It's on the other side of the fence." Gokudera said, pointing to the fence.

"Not that dog. That dog."

Reborn pointed forward, calm as can be. The three boys turned around, coming face to face with a growling, large German shepherd with a red bow tied around its black collar and that had it's teeth bared at them. For a moment the three boys froze, staring at the dog, but when the dog barked, snapping teeth at them, they took off running, yelling and screaming. The dog chased them all over the grounds, barking and growling and snapping at their heels. Then Tsuna tripped, smashing into Gokudera and Yamamoto from behind, sending all three crashing to the ground. Just when Tsuna was sure the dog would attack, there was a high pitched whistle that caused the dog to stop.

"Maleficent!"

Knowing that voice, the boys turned as the dog backed away, whimpering as it's ears went back on it's head. Coming their way, dressed in black dance pants, a flowing tied on skirt, and black, skin tight tank top, her pale hair tied back, was Roksana. Her black, sling back heels clicked on the paved walk way as she hurried towards them, shooting the dog a strong look. She stopped at the edge of the walk way and pointed to the spot in front of her.

"Maleficent, come." she demanded.

It's tail tucked between it's hind legs and it's head hanging low, the dog approached her, whimpering lowly, until it stood before her. Roksana carefully dropped to one knee, gently cupping the dog's face.

"What have I told you about chasing people? Dimitri may condone that kind of behavior from you, but I don't. I know you're just protecting your home, but be a good girl for mama and stop scaring people." she told the dog sternly before scratching behind the dog's ears.

The dog's tail started wagging, her tongue rolling out of her mouth. Roksana gave the dog a pat on the head before turning her eyes to the boys.

"What are the four of you doing here?" Roksana asked as she got to her feet.

"Us? What are **you** doing here!?" Tsuna asked.

"I do live here." Roksana replied.

"You do?" Yamamoto asked, surprised.

"Yeah. Where else do you expect a politician's daughter to live?" Roksana asked, as if it was obvious. "Come on, you can explain to me what happened from inside."

With that Roksana turned and headed off down the side walk, the dog, Maleficent, following her, tail wagging. The boys looked at each other in surprise before hurrying after her. None of the had thought that Roksana was the child of a politician. It made them wonder which parent it was, though they were all pretty sure it was her father. Roksana lead them around the side of the house, to the front. A circle drive way was void of any cars and had a fountain cheerfully gurgling away in the center. Wide, marble steps led up to the double, front doors.

Roksana held the door open. Maleficent, as if she owned the place, pranced inside ahead of the boys but Roksana snagged her collar, pulling her to a stop.

"No, Maleficent. You know the rules. You stay outside." Roksana said, scooting the dog back out the doors.

The dog whined as Roksana closed the door. The boys looked around them. The grand, front hall had two grand staircases, one on either side, leading upstairs and four doorways lead off the room. The floor was silver veined, white marble, the furnishing were all polished oak, and a large, crystal chandelier hung over their heads.

"Dimitri!" Roksana called, her heels clicking as she started across the room.

One of the back doors, to the left, opened and an older man with slicked back, dark blond hair, wearing neatly pressed slacks and a white, button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, appeared. He was currently pulling a pair of white gloves onto his hands, his shiney, black shoes making dull clicks on the floor. His vivid, green eyes scanned over the boys behind Roksana before landing on the girl herself. A soft, fond smile fell on his face.

"Miss Tsukiko, is there something you need?" he asked.

"Tsukiko?" Yamamoto questioned, looking at Roksana.

"It's my middle name. I'm a halfer. My mother was Japanese and she wanted at least one of my names to be Japanese." Roksana replied, before turning to the man, giving him a look that made him chuckle.

"Such a salty look, Miss. Your father would scold you." the man told her.

"Dimitri." Roksana said in a put out tone.

"Yes, yes, Miss. I know you do now like talk of your father's scoldings." Dimitri said. "You called, though?"

"Could you bring some tea and snacks to my room for my friends and I?" Roksana asked.

"Of course, Miss." Dimitri said.

A young woman with red hair braided into twin pigtails and wearing a maid's outfit, appeared from the room Dimitri had come out of. She was wiping her hands on her apron, a big smile on her dumpling face as she looked at Roksana.

"Did I hear something about friends? Oh, Miss, you found friends!" the woman said, her voice heavy with an Irish accent.

"Maeve." Roksana said in warning.

"And they're such cute boys, too! Are you amoured with one?" the woman asked.

"Maeve!"

The woman, Maeve, giggled and took off back the way she came. Roksana gave her friends an apologetic look. Not that they blamed her. Some people just found it funny to butt into others' lives. Roksana hurriedly ushered them up the stairs before any of the other workers in the mansion could show up and say something. She continued up, past the second floor to the third. On the third floor, she lead the way to a front facing room. She pushed opened one of the oak, double doors and lead the way into the large, spacious room.

Two balconies opened up on the far side of the room, the black to pale red ombre fade curtains tied open, letting in the sunlight. A large bed, that looked like nothing more than two mattresses piled on the floor, was sat in the dead center of the room over flowing with sheets, blankets, and pillows of black, white, silver, and red. Sheer curtains matching her balcony curtains, hung from the ceiling, draping around the bed. A vanity sat against the wall to their left, and a door leading to a bathroom sat into the wall on the far side of it. The corner directly to their left housed book shelves over flowing with books and a stero system that was currently playing hard rock as a soft level, adding just enough noise so that the room wasn't deathly quiet.

To their right, an L-shaped desk took up the far corner, a computer and various books and supplies neatly arranged on desk top. Her school bag sat on the floor beside the desk. While the desk sat there, a sitting area set up around a wide screen TV, took up the other corner. Folding doors sat between those two areas, leading into a walk-in closet and shelves, covered in trophies, sat on either side of those doors. The wall between the balcony doors, played home to a large, luxury, pet condo with various tunnels that they were sure was for Pinattsu.

"Come and have a seat." Roksana told them, heading for the sitting area.

The boys followed her, taking seats on the black leather couch and chairs. The moment he was sitting, Pinattsu appeared in Gokudera's lap, staring up at him as if he might have a treat for her. Roksana sat down in a chair just to Gokudera's left and looked over at the squirrel.

"Pinattsu, it's not lady like to beg." Roksana told the animal.

Pinattsu gave her a glance before running up Gokudera's arm to sit on his shoulder, as if she was saying that she would beg if she wanted to. Roksana just shook her head. Tsuna jumped right into the question that they all had been wondering.

"Your dad is a politician?" Tsuna asked.

Roksana looked at him before heaving a sigh. She crossed her legs and propped an elbow on the arm rest, leaning to the side.

"Yeah, he is. He works in the Federation Council of the Russian Parliament and he takes his job very seriously." Roksana said, heaving a sigh that sounded put out.

"Russian Parliament...so he doesn't live here with you?" Yamamoto asked.

"No. Aside from the live-in staff members here, I live alone." she replied.

"Don't you miss your parents?" Tsuna asked.

"Not really."

The three boys stared at Roksana in surprise. She honestly didn't seem to appear to miss her parents, despite being in a completely different country from them. Roksana saw their looks and gave them a small smile.

"My mother is dead and my father married about two years ago." Roksana explained.

"I'm sorry." Tsuna said.

"Don't be. My mother was originally from Japan, as I said. She was on vacation when she met my father and ended up pregnant with me. My parents never officially married, but they did love each other and my mother remained in Russia with him. She had been born with a weak immune system and had always been sick and too weak to leave the house. I can't really remember a time when she wasn't. So when she finally passed away when I was ten, I was just glad to see she was no longer suffering. I miss her, yes, but that's life. She'd want me to move on with my life." Roksana explained.

"And your dad?" Gokudera asked.

"Don't get me wrong, I love my father. For a long time, he was really strict with me, raising me like a son instead of a daughter. He never thought he'd have anymore children. So my life was full of strict rules, strict demands on how I act and appear and present myself, advance classes, lessons I never wanted to take, and a long list of specialized home tutors. Then he married my step-mother two years ago. She's a nice woman and we get along well, but when she got pregnant a year ago and gave birth to my little brother, my father no longer had a reason to be so strict with me and decided to grant me a wish as a way to make it up to me. I wanted to come to Japan, the homeland of my mother, and here I am."

Roksana shrugged, as if it was no big deal to move from one country, to another, leaving her family behind. Especially since she had a new, little brother.

"So that's why you said no to joining the family."

Roksana's eyes went down to Reborn, who was standing on the glass top table sat in front of the couch and chairs. She frowned at him.

"No. I don't care about my father's work and it has nothing to do with what I do. I'm just tired of taking orders. I'm free now, so I'll keep that freedom, thank you very much." Roksana told him.

There was a knock on the door then. Roksana called out for the person to come in and a maid came in carrying a tray. Dimitri came in behind her, carrying another. They sat the trays down and Roksana thanked them. The maid hurried away, to return to her chores and Dimitri turned to look at Roksana.

"Will your guest be staying for dinner, Miss?" he asked.

Roksana looked at the boys.

"Would the four of you like to stay for dinner?" she asked.

"Will we have to dress up like you?" Gokudera asked.

Roksana looked down at her outfit, taking in the elegant, if simple clothes she was wearing. To their surprise, she broke out laughing, her face lighting up with a smile that made them smile in reply, even though they had no idea what she was laughing at.

"Oh, heavens no! I'm not dressed up. These are my clothes for my dance lessons. I had just finished my tango lessons when I heard Maleficent's barking." Roksana told them, still somewhat laughing.

Now they got it. They agreed to staying for dinner and Dimitri nodded before patting Roksana on the head and leaving. Roksana was still somewhat amused, a grin on her face.

"So you take dance lessons? Is that your dad's doing?" Yamamoto asked.

"No. I love dancing and am a six year champion, competitive dancer. That's what those trophies are for." Roksana said, gesturing towards the trophies lining the shelves on either side of her closet.

"That explains the level of your reflexes and flexibility." Reborn remarked.

"I suppose. I just happen to have a knack with the preforming arts. I sing and play the piano and guitar too." Roksana said.

"You can?" Gokudera asked in surprise.

Roksana nodded. Her father had insisted she be as well rounded as possible when she was growing up. On top of advance studies he had her learning foreign affairs, English, Japanese, French, and Latin, marital arts, and her choice between flower arrangement, art, more language classes, or dance. Roksana had chosen dance. It had been one of the few, self-chosen classes that she had enjoyed. When she had moved to Japan, she had insisted on continuing her dance lessons on top of going to a public school.

Only one of those choices had sat well with her father, and it hadn't been the public school idea.

Reborn, upon hearing about the courses her father had insisted she not only take, but do well in, kept insisting on Roksana joining Tsuna's mafia family. When he pulled out a gun and almost shot her, putting a smoking hole in the back of the chair she was sitting in, Roksana frowned.

"Alright, enough. As long as Tsuna will **ask** me to do things, not **demand** , I'll join. Anything to keep you from shooting that thing off anymore." Roksana said.

Laughs sounded from Gokudera and Yamamoto, but Roksana had been serious. She made sure that Tsuna understood that she was serious about the orders thing. Tsuna agreed and found himself with yet another member in his family. Roksana left them to snack on the snacks Dimitri and the maid had brought them, while she vanished into her closet to change clothes. When she came back out, she had changed into an off the shoulder, red dress that ran on the very short side, with white leggings and a chain belt around her waist. She was busy tying her hair back with a simple, red ribbon as she came out.

"Dinner should be about ready. We should go ahead and head down." she told them.

Dinner in the Volkov mansion was fancy looking, but actually simple. It turned out that Roksana favored simple, easy dishes to the fancy sprawl her father would have requested. As was normal, and per Roksana's request, the six staff members in the house joined them for dinner. The sun was starting to set when Tsuna, Yamamoto, Gokudera, and Reborn left the Volkov estate. Roksana stood at the gate and waved, Pinattsu on her shoulder and Maleficent standing guard. The day had turned out to be a good one. Reborn had gotten his wish and Roksana had joined Tsuna's mafia family and Tsuna and his friends had learned some things about Roksana they hadn't known.

All and all...a good day.

END

Kyandi: I had to do some research on Russian politics before I wrote this chapter.

Roksana: It's quite different from American politics, isn't it?

Kyandi: Eh...I wouldn't know. I'm not interested in politics, even in my country.

Roksana: It's an election year.

Kyandi: And? I care why? As long as the president doesn't end up getting the country burned to the ground, I don't care.

Roksana...What's it's like to have such a simple mind?

Kyandi: Well...wait...HEY!

Roksana: Took you long enough to figure it out.

Kyandi: Meanie! Everyone enjoy and review. I have an OC to punish.

Roksana: Oh goodie. We'll be back very soon.

Kyandi: Bye-bye!


	4. Testing

Kyandi: And I'm back! Sorry, I had to take a nap.

Roksana: Laying down at four a.m. does not make it a nap.

Kyandi: It does if you only sleep three hours.

Roksana: Yeah...sure.

Kyandi: Anyway, I'm going to post this and then I'm back off to dream world for a while.

Roksana: But then we'll be back with another chapter for you.

Kyandi: Yep! So everyone please enjoy and review.

Roksana: Kyandi-sama does not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

Chapter 4 Testing

The next few days went by as normal. Well...for Roksana. For Tsuna...not so much. Coming home from school one day, he found Reborn talking with the Cavallone Family's tenth boss, Dino. The young man greeted Tsuna as Reborn's former pupil. Dino, by the end of the day, was calling Tsuna, his sworn brother. Tsuna had no idea on how to handle any of it. At dinner that night, Dino told Tsuna he could ask him anything about being a boss. Tsuna couldn't think of anything to ask him.

"Oh yeah, do you have a family yet, Tsuna?" Dino asked.

"Right now, there are Gokudera and Yamamoto. Also a few candidates; Hibari, Sasagawa Ryohei, and..."

"They are just my friends and seniors!" Tsuna yelled, cutting Reborn off.

"Oh, and Volkov just joined too." Reborn added, ignoring Tsuna.

"Volkov? That doesn't sound Japanese." Dino remarked.

"Volkov is half Japanese, half Russian." Reborn replied.

"That's just another friend!" Tsuna insisted.

Reborn acted like he didn't hear Tsuna. Then again, he did that all of the time. While Roksana had agreed to join, Tsuna really couldn't think of her as a member of a mafia family anymore than he could the rest of his friends. Especially not Roksana since she was the daughter of an up-standing, Russian politician.

"But why did you come to a person like me, Reborn? You seemed to be doing just fine with Dino-san." Tsuna remarked.

"Vongolia is the center of our allied families. That's why it gets priority above all others in every aspect." Dino answered.

"Eeeh!? The Vongolia is that influential!?" Tsuna asked, shocked.

"That's right." Reborn confirmed.

"I'm even more scared." Tsuna muttered.

"Oh, Dino-kun. My, my, you spilled your food." Tsuna's mother remarked suddenly.

Sure enough, a small mess of rice lay on the table in front of Dino. According to Reborn, without his men around, Dino could barely function at half his usual standard. Dino insisted that it was just because he was use to forks and knives verses chopsticks and wasn't well versed in the use of chopsticks. As the night went on and Dino's turtle, Enzio, got into the bathtub, growing about ten times his normal size, it was proven that Dino really couldn't function well without his men around.

Instead of whipping Enzio with his bull whip, he whipped Tsuna.

In the end, Reborn had Leon jump on Tsuna's face, changing his face to match that of one of Dino's men. Snapping out of his state of uselessness, Dino managed to take care of Enzio and, after being blow dried, the turtle returned to his original size.

Only for Dino to fall down the stairs the next morning.

"I'm leaving." Tsuna called, as he hurried out his front door for school. "Crap! I over-slept because of that incident with Dino-san's turtle."

Tsuna froze at his gate when he found Dino's men in the street beyond, some polishing guns, others checking their sights on their guns. Hearing the commotion, Dino stuck his head out the front door, still half asleep.

"Why are you guys here? I didn't ask you to pick me up." Dino remarked.

"No one came to pick you up, boss." one man said.

"I was just taking a stroll and ended up here." another said, several of the others agreeing with him.

"From the hotel in front of the train station?" Dino asked, obviously not buying it.

Tsuna laughed a little to himself. He couldn't help but think that Dino was well loved by his men. Even if their protectiveness of him was a little annoying to Dino, it just meant that they really cared about him and his well being. Tsuna was suddenly jolted when Gokudera appeared beside him, calling a loud and cheerful greeting.

"I woke up too early so I was wandering around and ended up here." Gokudera said, feeding Tsuna an excuse similar to the one that Dino's men tried to feed him.

Tsuna didn't buy it anymore than Dino had.

"Anyway, these guys here...who are they?" Gokudera asked, looking around at Dino's men.

"Hey, smoking-bomb brat! It's our first time meeting, right?" Dino asked, leaning on the wall next to Tsuna.

"That tattoo...Bucking Horse Dino." Gokudera said, seeing the tattoo on Dino's arm.

He was a little surprised to find the man at Tsuna's house but that surprise soon turned to annoyance when he heard Yamamoto call out to them seconds before grabbing both Gokudera and Tsuna around the shoulders.

"What are you guys doing? You're gonna be late! Roksana is probably already at school wondering where we are." Yamamoto said.

Yamamoto called a cheerful greeting to Dino before dragging Tsuna and Gokudera after him down the street. Gokudera complained the whole way, trying to get him to let go of him. Dino watched them, Reborn perching on the wall beside him. Not long after they vanished down the street, Roksana came from the opposite direction. She cast a glance at the men around the street before her eyes locked on Reborn. Dino stared at the girl as she came to a stop before Reborn.

"Has Tsuna left yet?" Roksana asked.

Reborn pointed down the street. Roksana glanced that way before turning back to Reborn, thanking him in Russian. Pinattsu popped her head up out of Roksana's shirt, shocking Dino as the squirrel looked up at him, raising her nose to sniff the air. Roksana didn't pay attention to it as she turned and hurried after them, her pale hair dancing out behind her. She spared Dino a glance over her sunglasses as she passed and then she was gone down the street.

"That's Volkov." Reborn told Dino.

"A girl!?" Dino asked.

"A dancer with naturally good reflexes and flexibility and training in multiple styles of marital arts. She's the daughter of a Russian politician, but it doesn't seem to matter much." Reborn told him.

Dino glanced off the way Roksana had gone, chasing her friends, humming to himself as she went. She didn't seem like much at first glance, but appearances never meant much.

"So that's Tsuna's family...a bunch of children." Dino remarked.

"You seem concerned." Reborn observed.

"Of course. After all, it's about the family of the sworn brother who reminds me of my past." Dino replied.

"So, what do you think? Usable?" Reborn asked.

"Maybe. The most important thing for a family is trust. As long as I don't see that, I don't approve them." Dino remarked.

"Then why don't you test them out?" Reborn suggested.

"Test?"

That gave Dino a good idea.

A very good idea.

An idea that Reborn was sure would get the man killed by Roksana.

-0-0-0-0-

Roksana managed to catch up with the three boys, greeting them with a wave. When they hadn't shown up at their usual meeting place at their usual time, she had worried a bit and had gone in search of the three. It seemed they had just been running late. Which she preferred to any other reasons for being delayed.

As she fell into step with the three, Gokudera went on to tell Tsuna what he knew of Dino. Roksana figured, from the description she got, that that was the man she had seen with Reborn. She was a little shocked when she was told, roughly, how old Dino was. She had been thinking more along the late teenage years, rather than an adult. The air around him just didn't scream adult to her.

She listened in on the conversation, interested when Gokudera explained how Dino had built his family up after it had nearly been ruined by the previous boss. From the description, this Dino man sounded like a mas of passable intelligence. Or, at least, a man who cared those who served under him. She could respect that kind of man.

Grudgingly, but she could.

"Oh, Dino-san did?" Tsuna asked, looking at Gokudera.

"Yeah. He rebuilt the family's financial structure that was ruined by the previous generation. The Cavallone family has the third most influential power within the alliance." Gokudera told him.

"I wasn't aware it took so much management skills to be a boss." Roksana remarked.

She sounded awed, making Gokudera grit his teeth in annoyance. He had come to realized that it took a lot to actually awe Roksana and then, even when she was awed, she never really let others know she was. That she was not only awed, but sounded it, meant that she was really amazed by Dino. And that annoyed him. He shrugged it off though as if none of it really bothered him.

"Either way, I don't like him." Gokudera said, sourly.

"Eh...w-why?" Tsuna asked.

"Anyone older than me is an enemy." Gokudera replied darkly.

"Hayato...I'm older than you."

Gokudera's jaw dropped then, the cigarette in his mouth falling to the ground as he turned to look at Roksana, who was peering over her sunglasses at him. He stumbled over his words, not sure how to get it out. He hadn't know she was older.

"Your birthday is in September, right?" Roksana asked.

Gokudera nodded. Idly, he wondered how she knew that, but he didn't question it at the moment, his head still reeling from the realization that she was older than him.

"Mine's in February. That makes me over half a year older than you." Roksana said before leaning around him. "Your birthday's in April, right, Takeshi? That means you're older than him too."

Yamamoto grinned, nodding to confirm that his birthday was in Apirl. Gokudera just found himself thinking that he had known there was something else about Yamamoto that he didn't like. Roksana nudged Gokudera in the side with one elbow when she saw the sour look on his face.

"You want to know something that'll cheer you up?" she asked.

"Yeah sure." he replied.

"Technically speaking...I'm only four and a half."

All three boys froze in their tracks, turning to stare at Roksana. There was no way in hell she was only four and a half! Roksana laughed as she looked at them, her hands going to her hips. It was the most cheerful laugh they had seen from her since she had come to their school and it shook her shoulders, lighting up her face with cheer.

"I was born on a leap year." Roksana explained.

The boys stared at her, silence spreading between. She was the half Japanese daughter of a Russian politician, had a Sectoral Heterochromia, and now they found out she had been born on a leap year to boot. This girl...

"You just get stranger and stranger, don't you?" Gokudera said bluntly.

Roksana just laughed. Back home, surrounded by people who believed in old folk lore and myths, she had been considered pretty unlucky. Yamamoto just laughed it off and after a little surprise at just how odd it was, Gokudera and Tsuna pretty much waved it off. Roksana could not begin to put into words how thankful she was for that.

They continued walking, Gokudera assuring Roksana that just because she was a little older than him didn't mean she was his enemy. Roksana waved it off, already sure that she wasn't. If he was going to hold the fact that she was a tiny bit older against her, then he wouldn't be a friend worth having.

"Back to the original subject, though, I have to admit that, as a mafia boss, this Dino seems to be pretty good. At least with the work he's done for his own family." Roksana remarked, making Gokudera grumble unhappily.

"Hey, Tsuna. She just said something about mafia." Yamamoto remarked.

Tsuna tense, freaking out. Though he had already agreed to being apart of the family, Yamamoto was cheerfully oblivious to the whole mafia things. Something that Roksana found both amusing and confusing at the same time. How did someone, when confronted with guns, fights, and other things, remain so oblivious? And he was completely so. Which he proved with his next sentence.

"That's a weird company name." Yamamoto said with a grin.

"I wonder about how your brain functions, Takeshi." Roksana remarked.

Yamamoto gave her a questioning look, but she didn't explain the remark. The sound of a fast approaching car had Gokudera pulling Roksana's arm to yank her out of the way. A slim, dark colored car came to a screeching halt next to them. It was definitely a foreign affair and a bit guady in Roksana's point of view.

That being said...her step-mother had a car just like it.

Roksana, Gokudera, and Yamamoto all three tensed when a lasso was thrown from the car, hooking around Tsuna and dragging him into the car before it burned rubber and took off. Gokudera and Yamamoto called out for Tsuna.

"They're yakuza called the Momokyokai that controls the area around here."

The three turned to find Reborn standing behind them. When had he gotten there? Roksana questioned his perfect timing, wondering if Reborn had something to do with this. After all...he was always doing something to put Tsuna in danger as a way of testing him.

"Yakuza is Japanese mafia. You middle schoolers won't stand a chance against the adult mafia. Leave it to the police." Reborn told them.

"Like hell I'd leave it to them!" Gokudera snapped.

"I'll leave the cops to you, little boy." Yamamoto added.

The two took off down the street, running the way the car had taken off in. Roksana, though, looked down at Reborn, suspicion in her eyes. Pinattsu poked her head out of her shirt and barked at her. Roksana looked down at the squirrel. She questioned this whole thing. But Yamamoto and Gokudera called back to her, telling her to hurry up. Roksana eyed Reborn once more before turning and hurrying after her friends. It was obvious that she wasn't so convinced. Reborn watched as she vanished after her friends.

"I like that. Their minds are set on rescuing Tsuna. The guys lost their composure, but they're trust-worthy. Not so sure about the girl."

Reborn looked up as Dino, two of his guys dragging a tied up Tsuna between them, appeared out of the very same car that had taken off with Tsuna. Tsuna wasn't happy with the situation.

"What are you doing, Dino-san!?" he demanded.

"Sorry, sorry. I just had to test your family." Dino told him, as he and one of his men worked on untying Tsuna.

"Test?" Tsuna asked.

Dino opened his mouth to reply when suddenly there was a loud slam and the car alarm went off, blaring out loud.

"I knew it!"

Dino jolted, all of them whipping around. Roksana was standing next to the car, a fist resting on the hood and a completely displeased look on her face. She had hit the car, making the alarm blare, and had obviously hit it hard for when she pulled her hand back, the part of the hand that had hit the car, had turned red. Pinattsu was sitting on her shoulder, nose raised in the air. The animal's eyes set on Dino and the squirrel barked.

"Roksana!" Tsuna exclaimed. "Wait, you don't understand!"

But Roksana was already pulling her pole weapon out from under her skirt. A flick of her wrist and the pole snapped together. Tsuna tried to get her to stop but Roksana shot towards Dino, ready to knock his head off in defense of Tsuna. Tsuna, having seen the damage she could do, freaked out and did the first thing he could think of.

"Roksana, freeze!"

Roksana froze on the spot, just a few feet from Dino, ready to attack. That had been a demand. Tsuna had **demanded** something of her. Even after she had told him to never do that. Tsuna froze when Roksana turned a hard look on him. Somewhere along the way, she had removed her sunglasses and he could now see her twin colored eyes blazing.

"Tsuna...was that an **order**?" Roksana asked darkly.

Tsuna, now set free from the rope, waved his hands before him. He hurried to explain that he had only done it to stop her because she was misunderstanding something. Roksana's head tilted to the side, one eyebrow going up.

"I'm listening." she said, still not budging from her ready-to-attack pose.

Dino didn't try to move. He was sure she would attack him if he did. Until she had a reason not to attack him, it would be best not to draw her attention anymore than he had to. He didn't want to have to hurt her in defense of himself. Tsuna quickly explained to her that he had never been in danger and that it had just been Dino testing hers, Gokudera's, and Yamamoto's devotion to him. Roksana eyed Tsuna for a moment before relaxing, standing up straight as she pushed the button to return her weapon to its three pole state.

"If you say so, then I'll believe you. I knew something was fishy." Roksana remarked.

"How?" Dino asked, curious as to how she had figured it out when Gokudera and Yamamoto hadn't.

"Simple. I'm a girl. I actually use the muscle between yours ears, you call a brain." Roksana replied, gesturing to her head.

Dino frowned as Tsuna chuckled sheepishly. Okay, so sarcasm was obviously something she did often. When all he did was stare at her, Roksana's hands went to her hips. Apparently some men couldn't take jokes.

"For one, what would the yakuza want with Tsuna? While he might be the next Vongolia boss, here the yakuza don't care about the Italian mafia. They would have no interest in Tsuna who's a middle schooler on top of it all. Not to mention that Pinattsu could smell you in the car. You have a cologne that makes her sneeze." Roksana said.

As if to prove her point, Pinattsu leaned out to sniff at Dino and sneezed, rubbing her nose with a small paw. Roksana pulled a small drawstring pouch out of her pocket, taking a seed out to reward the squirrel for a job well done. She replaced the pouch just to pull out a lollipop. Today's flavor of choice was strawberry cheesecake. She tore the wrapper off, still appearing a little annoyed, and stuck it in her mouth.

Dino was pleasantly surprised. Where Gokudera and Yamamoto had lost their composure and had rushed off without thinking it through, Roksana had instantly mistrusted the situation and had come up with a solution herself, carefully thinking it through and using what was at her disposal. And when she had been presented with a possible enemy, had seen her boss in danger, she had attacked in his defense. She was definitely just as trust worthy as Gokudera and Yamamoto.

"Just so you know...if Hibari gives Tsuna, Hayato, Takeshi, and I crap for being late to school because of this, I'm hunting you down and will let my dog, Maleficent, use you as a chew toy. That boy gives me enough trouble and I'm not going to stand for someone putting my friends in danger on my watch." Roksana told Dino, her eyes reflecting her silently flaring temper.

Dino held his hands out before him. He didn't know who this Hibari was, though he remembered Reborn speaking of him before, but Dino hoped he didn't give Roksana trouble. He had a feeling she would go through with her threat. Dino searched for something to change the subject and finally noticed that her eyes had two different colors in the irises.

"Hey, your eyes have two different colors." Dino pointed out, leaning down into Roksana's face until there was but a few spare inches between their faces.

Bad mistake.

Roksana smacked him upside the head with her folded up pole, making the man crouch down on the spot to rub his abused head. Roksana fished her sunglasses out of her pocket and put them back on, hiding her eyes once more.

"Learn the meaning of personal space, will you. It's inappropriate for a man your age to be that close to a middle school girl like me." Roksana told him.

"My bad." Dino replied.

"Hey, wait! What about Gokudera-kun and Yamamoto?" Tsuna asked, concerned for his two friends.

Dino stood back up, still rubbing his head as Roksana stashed her weapon back beneath her skirt. Dino glanced at her before turning back to Tsuna.

"Don't worry. Momokyokai is just some imaginary yakuza group that Reborn made up. They'll probably give up and are on their way home now. Tsuna...you're a lucky guy. Lately, there haven't been many family members who are so thoughtful of their boss." Dino told him with a smile.

"Wait...but...they're not family, they're my friends." Tsuna said.

"We're both. Get use to it. _Blizkiye druz'ya sem'i_." Roksana told him, the last part being Russian for, "close friends are family".

Dino laughed in agreement and clapped her on the back. Roksana stumbled, shot him a look, and issued a threat to hit him over the head again. Dino yanked his hand back, apologizing with a sheepish smile on his face.

"Ah. I forgot to tell you guys. Momokyokai is a real, existing yakuza in this town." Reborn remarked suddenly.

The three looked down at him, their expressions ranging from horror on Tsuna's face, to shock on Dino's, to annoyance on Roksana's. Roksana was starting to come to expect this kind of stuff from Reborn. He was always making things so more complicated than they needed to be.

"What!?" Tsuna exclaimed. "Then, they really went to the yakuza's territory?"

"What are you thinking, Reborn!?" Dino demanded.

" _Ya sobirayus' ubit' yego. Malen'kiy ublyudok ne dozhivet do svoyego sleduyushchego dnya rozhdeniya, yesli on ne prekratit delat' veshchi boleye slozhnymi, chem oni dolzhny byt'. Glupyy, malen'kiy, korotyshka ramer..._ "

Roksana started muttering in Russian. When Dino and Tsuna gave her a questioning look, she trailed off and waved a hand at them.

"You don't want to know." she told them, even though what she had said wasn't really all that bad.

"The opponents aren't just some punks or delinquents! There's no way those kids can win against them!" Dino snapped.

"That's true. I heard that they're very strong in martial arts." Reborn remarked as if it really wasn't a big deal.

"God, Reborn. Why do you always do extreme stuff like this!? It's not a joke." Dino told him.

"For real! What are you gonna do if they get hurt!?" Tsuna demanded.

It didn't look like Reborn was listening though.

"Hey, Reborn, are you listening!?" Dino asked.

A small sleep bubble started forming out of Reborn's nose, making Dino and Tsuna stare at him in disbelief. Both males had to grab Roksana's arms when she went to grab Reborn by the throat. Baby or not, if he kept this up, she was going to strangle him. They only released her when they were sure she wouldn't try to kill Reborn.

"Fine. Let's go, Tsuna." Dino told them.

"Go?" Roksana asked.

"This time, you should do something for your family, Tsuna." Dino told the boy.

Tsuna freaked out, knowing that he was going to get killed. He protested but Dino just took hold of one of his arms and started pulling him after him, assuring him that he was going to go with him. Roksana took hold of his other arm and helped Dino drag him off down the street.

"I'm going too." she said, leaving no room for argument.

The three hurried along, making their way to the building that the Momokyokai had made into their base. Dino insisted that he go first and that Roksana should bring up the rear. When Roksana gave him a wilting look for sounding like he was trying to protect her, he insisted that it was just in case some members were gone and came but, that he wanted to know he had a good fighter at his back. Roksana seemed to buy it for she didn't argue anymore.

"It's this room." Dino said, stopping in front of a door.

"Hey, Tsuna, isn't this Takeshi's school bag?" Roksana asked, pointing out a bag on the floor.

"It is! What if he's hurt!?" Tsuna asked.

"Of course, they came...Ok, let's go." Dino said, shoving open the door.

Beyond the door was a scene that made a small laugh spill from Roksana's lips. Gokudera and Yamamoto, in their quest to find Tsuna, had completely demolished the guys in the room and were currently trying to get information from the beat up men. When they looked up and found Tsuna with Dino and Roksana, the two released the men they had a hold of and came rushing to him, glad to see he was safe. They even commented on being worried for Roksana when she had gone missing.

"I just had Pinattsu follow the scent trail of the car. You two really should have stopped to think for a moment." Roksana told them.

Gokudera looked down at his feet, his cheeks going slightly red and Yamamoto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. Roksana was just glad to see that the two were alright. She would have been upset if they had been hurt because of Reborn's and Dino's stupid test. Just then the door flew open again and even tougher looking thugs came into the room demanding to know what they had done.

"Uwaah...the strong looking guys arrived!" Tsuna yelled.

"Bastards...they just keep showing up." Gokudera said.

"Why is it I always find myself in these situations now?" Roksana questioned, ready to pull out her own weapon to fight.

Dino laid a hand on Gokudera's shoulder, patting it as he stepped forward. Both Gokudera and Roksana, who stood beside him, looked up at the man.

"Wait, they're not like the youngsters you just beat up. You can't do it. Leave an adult opponent to an adult." Dino told him.

He stepped in front of them, hands jammed into his pockets as he confronted the men. Roksana tilted her head, curious to see how Dino was going to handle this.

"I'm the tenth boss of the Cavallone family, Dino. It's my fault that it turned out like this. I apologize. I'll pay for everyone's medical fees as well as the fee to repair all the equipment. Please accept that offer." Dino told them.

"I really don't think you can talk to them about this." Roksana told Dino lowly.

Dino held up a hand, silently telling her to leave it to him. Roksana fell quiet but she really didn't think it would turn out well. Yakuza wasn't like the Italian mafia. They're rules were completely different. Mafia, depending on the country they came from, differed great compared to others. Yakuza was different from Italian Mafia, and Italian Mafia was different from Russian mafia, and so on and so forth.

"Huh? Family? What are you talking about? This is Japan. We'll take the money alright. But you guys aren't going anywhere." the leader said.

"I told you so." Roksana remarked from behind Dino.

Dino gave her a smile. Roksana's attention, though, was drawn to the side as a few men snickered from a few feet from her, their eyes raking over her as if they couldn't wait to get a piece of her. It made Roksana want to gag and she took a step to the side, basically pressing into Gokudera's side. Gokudera looked up to see what was wrong and shot the men a glare. Dino turned his attention back to the leader, pulling out his whip. This was going to end bad.

"You've broken off all negotiations, then. I guess we'll have to return with force. Here I come!" Dino declared, cracking his whip.

Roksana ducked in time to avoid a whip lash to the face. Gokudera, Yamamoto, and even Dino himself, didn't escape the fate. That put all three out of the fight, leaving only Roksana and Tsuna. Roksana stared down at Dino, embarrassed to be seen with a man who couldn't even use his own weapon properly. The yakuza men roared in laughter, mocking Dino.

"Make sure they never talk again." one man declared.

Roksana heaved a sigh. This was going to come down to her and after she had promised her step-mother she would attempt to stay out of fights with opponents who could hurt her. Roksana could sense a scolding in her near future, she just knew it. The men wolf whistled when she reached under her skirt, but the whistles turned to laughter when she pulled out her pole. Roksana didn't bother saying a word to the taunts that sounded as she snapped her pole into it's full length.

"Roksana, what are you doing!?" Tsuna demanded.

"I'm apart of your family too, Tsuna and I can fight just as well as any guy. Just stand back." Roksana told him.

The men laughed, but Tsuna stepped back as told. He watched as Roksana shifted from one foot to the other. The moment her weight transferred to her left foot, she kicked off the ground, rocketing forward. Two men went down with howls of pain as she smacked one across the face, breaking his nose, and hit the second one, hard, in the groin. Both went down in moans of pain. Roksana moved on to the next, knowing better than to remain stationary for more than a few seconds when an enemy out numbered her. Her friends watched in wonder as she fended off the men that tried to overwhelm her. While she was keeping them away, it seemed that for every one she took down, another two took his place.

At this rate she was going to get some serious injuries.

Roksana yelped in pain when one man back handed her across the face. She stumbled back, tripped over a downed man's leg and fell back. Gokudera managed to catch her before she hit the floor.

"Are you alright, Roksana?" Tsuna asked.

"Besides the fact that I just got pimp slapped, I'm good." Roksana replied, pressing a hand to her stinging cheek.

She wouldn't be able to handle this on her own. Shattering glass had Gokudera wrapping an arm around her head to cover her face. When Roksana peered past his arm, she was confronted with a nearly naked Tsuna with fists swollen to a good five or six times their normal side. As if he was a wild animal, Tsuna attacked the yakuza men. Well that was something she had never seen before. Roksana climbed to her feet, turning to yank Gokudera and Yamamoto to their feet. Together, the three covered Tsuna's back, fighting together to take down the men.

His men showing up, Dino reentered the fight. Between all of them, they completely demolished the gang and returned to Tsuna's house. Roksana hissed, grumbling under her breath in what they were sure was not Russian, but French as she pressed an ice pack to her bruised cheek. Dimitri was going to kill her when she got home and he saw the bruise on her face. Then he would call her father and step-mother and Roksana would get a, at least, two hour long lecture.

On the bright side...she had completely destroyed the man that had hit her.

"I'm impressed. I can leave Tsuna to you guys." Dino said with a wide grin.

"No...leave me...it's not like that..." Tsuna stuttered, waving his hands.

"I'm going to go shopping with my men now. See ya." Dino told them, waving as he left.

"That man reminds me of a large man-child." Roksana remarked when Dino had left.

This made her friends laugh. When a loud crash sounded and they rushed to find that Dino had fallen down the stairs...again, Roksana heaved a sigh.

"Did I say man-child? I meant a klutz who can't do anything for himself." Roksana remarked.

END

Kyandi: I love Dino. He's such a source of entertainment.

Roksana: And annoyance.

Kyandi: Perhaps. But at least, now and then, you can get a good laugh out of him.

Roksana: I suppose.

Kyandi: Anyway, time for a translation. Some of what Roksana said in Russian, I told you the meaning to. All except for one paragraph. " _Ya sobirayus' ubit' yego. Malen'kiy ublyudok ne dozhivet do svoyego sleduyushchego dnya rozhdeniya, yesli on ne prekratit delat' veshchi boleye slozhnymi, chem oni dolzhny byt'. Glupyy, malen'kiy, korotyshka ramer..._ " means, "I'm going to kill him. The little bastard won't see his next birthday if he doesn't stop making things more complicated than they have to be. Stupid, little, runt size..."

Roksana: It wasn't like I was cursing.

Kyandi: Not really. Anyway, I have one more chapter ready for all of you lovely readers. So enjoy and review.

Roksana: We'll be back with the next chapter soon.

Kyandi: Bye-bye!


	5. Mountain Mischief

Kyandi: And I'm back.

Roksana: This chapter was a mix of amusement and annoyance for me.

Kyandi: I laughed.

Roksana: Of course you did. You always laugh when you're planning our doom.

Kyandi: Oh, you OCs are so touchy.

Roksana: Just like you?

Kyandi: At least **I'm** real.

Roksana:...Okay, I get it. Shots fired. Just you wait.

Kyandi: Oh, I'm scared. Anyway, everyone enjoy and review!

Roksana: Kyandi-sama does not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

Chapter 5 Mountain Mischief

Roksana ended up getting more of an ear full than she thought she would. Not only did Dimitri and Maeve freak out about the bruising, they called her father. He had yelled so loud that Roksana had been able to sit the phone on the table and still be able to make out everything he said. He had threatened to fly to Japan and walk her around by the hand if that was what it would take to keep her safe and out of trouble. Roksana had assured him that he had paid professionals enough to train her better. After several hours of a lecture, Roksana felt drained. She felt even more so when her step-mother gave her a guilty trip completely with sobs.

Why were parents so difficult to handle?

A few days later Tsuna, after a failed training session with Dino, ended up in the hospital with an injured leg. Roksana decided she better go see how he was doing with her own eyes. She stopped and picked up some flowers for him along the way. When she got to the hospital and stopped at the nurse's station to ask what room Tsuna was in, the woman at the desk gave her a hard look before answering. Roksana had no idea what the look was for, but she didn't really question it.

She headed about her way, making sure to stay out of the way of nurses and patients alike. When she reached the room, nurses where carting some people out of the room. Roksana watched them for a moment before she knocked on the door and entered. The first thing she saw was Tsuna's roommate. Roksana stared at Hibari from where she stood in the doorway. It took Tsuna calling her name to snap her out of it. Without another glance in Hibari's direction, Roksana swiped her sunglasses off her face and turned to Tsuna.

Tsuna was surprised to see Roksana but was more shocked to see her appearance. Roksana was dressed in a horribly short, strapless, black lace dress. She wore blood red leggings with black, rose pattern lace over them, under the dress, kitten heeled boots, and a black bomber jacket. Her hair was swept over to the left, the hair on the right side of her scalp tightly braided back. The bruise that had been on her cheek after the whole Momokyokai incident had already faded.

"I see Dino did a number on you." Roksana remarked as she approached the bed. "Or was it your own clumsiness?"

Tsuna rubbed at the back of his neck sheepishly, laughing, though Roksana had a feeling that she had hit the nail on the head. She handed over the flowers she had bought. Tsuna took then and stared at the flowers that made up the arrangement. Some of the flowers were little pink blossoms with a vivid red-pink towards the center. They looked close to that of cherry blossoms, but not quite. The others were similar blossoms but where white with a green-yellow center. Mixed in with them was small bunches of tiny little white flowers.

"What are these?" Tsuna asked, curious.

"Plum blossoms, pear blossom, and yarrow. In Russia, pear blossoms stand for health and hope, plum blossoms for longevity, and yarrow for healing." Roksana explained.

"Do you have meanings for all flowers in Russia?" Tsuna asked.

"A fair amount. Get out of here and I'll bring you goldenrod, pink heather, white heather, and red and yellow roses." Roksana told him.

"Do they stand for a declaration of love?" Hibari asked suddenly, obviously taunting her.

Roksana didn't even glance at him. Tsuna's eyes darted between her and Hibari when he saw Roksana roll her eyes at Hibari's comment. He really hoped the two didn't start a fight right there in the hospital room. He didn't was to get hurt anymore or get into anymore trouble.

"Goldenrod and pink heather stand for good luck, white heather for protection from danger, something you need, Tsuna, and red and yellow roses from congratulations. Maybe I should bring Hibari some buttercup, hydrangea, and narcissus flowers." Roksana shot back.

"Those stand for what?" Tsuna asked, though he had a feeling that the answer just might start a fight between Hibari and Roksana.

"Buttercups for childishness, hydrangeas for vanity and frigidity, and narcissus flowers for egotism. Seems to fit him perfectly." Roksana replied.

Hibari, to Tsuna's surprise, grinned. He liked Roksana's willingness to bite back. And she had a different way of insulting him than most people did. Not that a lot of people were willing to insult him. Especially to his face. Roksana just ignored him, perching herself lightly on the edge of Tsuna's bed.

"Do I want to know why I saw patients being carted out of here when I got here?" Roksana asked.

Tsuna glanced in Hibari's direction. Roksana took that to mean it was the other boy's fault. Roksana turned slightly, glancing over her shoulder at him. Hibari's grinning face looked back at her.

"I was playing a game to get over my boredom, but everyone was too weak. I had my roommates join me in a game. The rule is easy. If anyone makes a sound while I sleep, I'll bite them to death." Hibari said with menace.

"I have a game for you. It's called Break the Bird Eggs. Want to see how it's played?" Roksana asked, arms crossed.

Tsuna had a feel that the eggs she was referring to was a part of the male anatomy that should never be hit in any way, shape, or form.

"How one-sided! How can this happen in a hospital!? I'm feeling better now. I...I don't need to be hospitalized anymore!" Tsuna said instantly, before Hibari could say anything back to Roksana.

A man in a suit, who was standing just outside the room, stepped inside with a smile on his face. Roksana glanced at him, her arms crossed, wondering who he could be.

"That's not possible. You'll need the doctor's permission." he told Tsuna.

"Hey, director." Hibari greeted.

"Director, huh?" Roksana asked.

Roksana raised an eyebrow when the man instantly bowed to Hibari. Tsuna's jaw dropped. Roksana found herself wondering if there was an adult anywhere who wasn't seemingly terrified of Hibari. It was ridiculous. After all, he was only a teenager. It wasn't like he had any powerful and influential connects like Roksana did.

"It's because of Hibari-kun that the hospital can still run so smoothly. Sacrifices or whatever, we're at your command." the director said.

Well that answered that question.

Adults, apparently, had no backbone.

"I'll be taking a nap then. By the way, even the sound of a falling leaf will wake me up." Hibari said, leaning back into his pillows, covering a yawn.

The director left quickly, leaving Tsuna and Roksana alone in the room with Hibari. Roksana turned to look at Hibari while Tsuna freaked out about the whole "game" that Hibari wanted to play.

"Yes, please, go to sleep, so I can wake you up by shoving my boot in your face." Roksana told him.

Hibari opened his eyes and looked at her, meeting her eyes and...grinned. His eyes slide close then, the grin still in place. It was almost like he was praying she would try it. Roksana rolled her eyes before turning to Tsuna. He felt a little safer with Roksana there, knowing she wouldn't let Hibari hurt him.

"So, when I got home after that incident the other day, Dimitri freaked out seeing the bruise on my face." Roksana told Tsuna.

"Did he call your dad?" Tsuna asked.

He remembered Roksana mentioning that Dimitri would probably call her father the moment he saw the bruise and that she would probably get one of the longest lectures in her life when he did. Roksana heaved a sigh. Unknown to them, Hibari was listening intently to the whole conversation.

"He did. For two hours I sat the phone on my coffee table and could still hear him yelling in Russian from across my bedroom. He wasn't happy in the least, though to be fair...he was more angry about the man that hit me than the fact that I had gotten into another fight." Roksana said, leaning back on her hands. "My father, even with me all the way in Japan, is still all about appearances. That being said, I swear, its like now that my brother is born, my father suddenly thinks I can't take care of myself when he made sure I got the training so I could. He's treating me like I'm the infant, not my brother."

Tsuna could tell that she was a little frustrated with her father's sudden shift in how he view her. He had gone from viewing her as the replacement for the son he thought he'd never had, to his little girl who needed to be sent away and protected. Since Roksana wasn't really the type of girl that needed a lot of protecting, Tsuna could understand why she was a little annoyed about it. To her, half the time it had to seem that, now that her brother was born, her father no longer needed or wanted her. The other half, he almost seemed to act like an over protective father.

The back and forth was giving her whip lash.

"So he was upset." Tsuna said.

"Furious, more like it. He's so tight up about rules and laws. The price of having a politician for a father." Roksana retorted.

A politician. That caught Hibari's attention. So Roksana's father was a politician and from the sounds of it, he was a Russian politician. That meant that Roksana probably lived separately from him. He found himself wondering if this Dimitri person was a care taker or a hired body guard. Really influential politicians were known to draw enemies and some enemies weren't above kidnapping a child of said politician if they thought it would help them. So Hibari was willing to go with body guard.

A phone ringing, had Roksana fishing her cell phone out of her pocket. She glanced at the ID before popping the phone open to answer it. She spoke into the phone in Russian for a moment before hanging up.

"Rats. I have to go, Tsuna. Looks like I don't get to kick him in the face while he's asleep, after all. I was so looking forward to that." Roksana said, getting to her feet.

She slid the phone back into her pocket before looking down at Tsuna, promising to come back and see him again. Tsuna glanced nervously at Hibari as she left, just knowing he was going to end up getting beaten up one way or the other.

Roksana got a call later that day telling her that Tsuna had been move to a "quiet room" after Hibari had beat the crap out of him. Turned out that Lambo and I-pin had shown up and I-pin had awoken Hibari when she had exploded after becoming shy at the sight of Hibari.

Roksana could have told the little girl that she was crushing on a bad person, but first time crushes were important in a little girl's life and hardly ever reasonable.

She was so glad she had never had one.

-0-0-0-0-

"Ugh...so cold!"

Roksana glanced over at Gokudera as the boy complained about the cold. Dino had brought her, Gokudera, and Yamamoto to a mountain and it was, as Gokudera had said, cold. Roksana though, dressed in a pair of black jean shorts over black and red striped stockings, fur lined, black boots, a cropped off halter top over a black, long sleeved, mesh shirt, and a fur lined, long coat, didn't really feel cold.

"It's colder in Russia this time of year." Roksana told him.

Gokudera muttered something under his breath about it being cold enough for him. Roksana covered a laugh.

"Why are we going to a mountain in this weather, anyway?" Gokudera asked.

"We don't get to see nature like this very often, though. Not the two of us, at least." Yamamoto remarked.

"Yeah, it's an unexplored region that's not even on the map. As an apology for hospitalizing Tsuna last time, I thought this would be a good place to have a heart-to-heart talk. Spending a night in a place like this deepens the family's unit." Dino said.

"I don't need any heart-to-heart anything, thanks." Roksana said instantly.

"What the heck are you talking about, you worthless bastard!? Where's the 10th? Is he really here!?" Gokudera asked.

"Don't worry. He's already gone ahead with Reborn." Dino answered.

"Why do I have a bad feeling about that?" Roksana asked.

"Guessing from the time, they're probably having lunch." Dino assured her.

Roksana came to a stop when they reached the waterfall they were suppose to meet Reborn and Tsuna at, causing Yamamoto and Gokudera bump into her from behind. Roksana remained on her feet but kept her eyes fixed forward, making the three males with her, turn and look at her face.

"I hate it when I'm right." Roksana remarked, pointing forward.

The three males turned and froze at the sight of a poor Tsuna tied to a boulder under the flow of the waterfall. Gokudera freaked out while Roksana heaved a sigh.

"What are you doing, Reborn!? We weren't going to train today." Dino yelled.

"He's being Reborn, that's what he's doing. It's always one extreme or the other with him." Roksana remarked.

"It's boring to have a heart-to-heart talk on a mountain. So I decided to have some fun." Reborn said, as if that made it okay.

"Don't use me as your toy!" Tsuna snapped at him.

Roksana, standing next to Dino, looked up as Reborn jumped up onto her shoulder and then up to Dino's. What was he up to now? Whatever it was, it made Roksana have a bad feeling.

"That's true. Then let's play with Enzio." Reborn said, pulling the turtle out.

"Put that thing away!" Roksana ordered.

She had heard about what happened when that turtle got wet and she really didn't want to see it with her own eyes. Especially not when she was standing right next to it.

"Ah! When did you...!?"

Dino didn't even get his sentence out before Reborn threw the turtle into the water. With that much water...Roksana looked up in horror as Enzio rose from the water, standing a good ten to twenty times their size. This wasn't going to end well. Roksana had a feeling that either she was going to be paying a visit to the hospital or was going to be knocking the crap out of someone.

"What the heck it that?" Yamamoto asked.

"It's the spirit of the mountain! The spirit of the mountain is angry at us!" Gokudera yelled, holding up a hand folded in a traditional style of prayer.

"That is not a spirit, so praying's not going to help!" Roksana snapped at him.

"There's nothing we can do once he grew that big. Let's get to the other side of the bridge." Dino ordered.

Yamamoto picked up Reborn, carrying him tucked under one arm and Dino grabbed a hold of Roksana's arm, dragging her after him on to the bridge. The whole thing was shaking. If it wasn't for the balance she had gained from years of dance, she would have fallen flat on her butt by now. Dino released her arm, shoving her towards Gokudera, and pulled out his whip.

"I'll buy us some time here. You guys just go on ahead." Dino said.

"Wait! Your worthless whip is useless!" Gokudera snapped.

"Dino, I'm warning you. If I get whipped with that thing or something worse happens because you're a klutz without your men, I'm going to kill you." Roksana warned.

"Stop talking nonsense. Leave it to me!" Dino said, cracking his whip.

Which only succeeded in slicing the ropes holding up the bridge. Everyone stared in horror at the sliced rope.

"Oh, you are such a dead bas...ahhhhh!"

Roksana's comment turned into a scream as the bridge fell apart, sending them all plummeting to the ground far below. They crashed into the trees below, branches whipping out at Roksana as she broke through the branches until she broke free of the tree and hit the ground below. She yelped with someone landed on top of her, driving an elbow into her gut.

"Oww...are you ok, 10th!?" Gokudera asked, instantly whipping around to look at Tsuna.

"I..I'm alive." Tsuna replied.

"Seems like the tree branches broke our fall." Yamamoto said, looking up.

"Enzio shrank, too, thanks to the sun." Reborn remarked.

Gokudera looked around, searching for Roksana, not finding any sign of her. Concern rose in his chest when he couldn't find her.

"Roksana!? Where are you!?" he called.

"Right here. Could you please remove your hand?"

Gokudera looked down, finding that he was sitting on Roksana...and was currently groping one of her breasts. He yanked his hand back and shot back from her so quickly, he fell over himself. Yamamoto helped Roksana sit up, dusting dirt, leaves, and twig out of her hair and off her shoulders.

"You alright?" Yamamoto asked.

"I'll live. With bruised ribs and embarrassment, but I'll live." Roksana assured him, her cheeks blood red after finding herself in the position she had been in.

Gokudera apologized over and over again, but Roksana just waved it off. She knew it wasn't his fault. He couldn't control where he had landed and he hadn't known she was under him.

"Sorry. My hands slipped." Dino said, then.

"Bastard! 'My hands slipped' isn't enough!" Gokudera snapped, jumping at Dino.

"I agree." Roksana said.

Yamamoto grabbed both of them, wrapping an arm around Roksana's waist and the other around Gokudera's shoulders, pulling them back as they tried to get Dino.

"Calm down. Everyone's fine so it's okay." Yamamoto told them.

"Don't be so sure about that. You don't even know if you can go home from here." Reborn pointed out.

"Now...now that you mention it, that's true. Where are we!?" Tsuna asked, looking around.

"Great...we're lost." Roksana grumbled, pressing the heel of a hand to her forehead.

Both she and Gokudera pulled out their cell phones to see if they could get a signal. No matter where she paced, or how high she got her cell phone, she couldn't pick up a single signal anywhere. Not a single bar. Out of all of the things her father had planned for-kidnapping, possible house fire, car accidents, etc-he hadn't taken in consideration that she might get lost somewhere where their was no cell service. Did that mean that the GPS locator in her phone wouldn't work? Dimitri wouldn't be able to follow it to her if it didn't. It made her want to curse in every language she knew.

Why did she keep ending up in situations like this?

"Nope. No signal. What about you, Roksana?" Gokudera asked, looking at Roksana.

"Nothing. Not a single thing." Roksana replied, her accent getting thicker with her annoyance.

"Calm down. My phone can get a signal even in the middle of a desert. It's a satellite phone." Dino said, proudly, digging his phone out of his pocket.

Only to find that it had been broken in the fall. Roksana, unable to help her annoyance, smacked him upside the back of the head. The bad news kept piling up when Reborn pointed out that they had also lost their bag of food.

"If we camp out here, the cold night weather will probably be the worst thing." Yamamoto remarked.

"Not for me. The mountains in Russia are colder than this." Roksana remarked.

Out of everything, the cold was the least of Roksana's worries. She had survived a colder night in the mountains of Russia and she had only been six at the time. Reborn's amusement in the whole matter, though, was making her inch closer to the idea of homicide as a way to take her frustration out. And she wasn't the only one. Tsuna wanted to kick Reborn just as much as Roksana wanted to strangle him. After all, it had been Reborn's fault. If he hadn't thrown Enzio into the water, they wouldn't be in the mess they were in.

Just then, Reborn found a cave. While it wouldn't solve all of their problems, it would get them out of the elements should they have to camp out for the night.

"Don't get so close to it. It could be a nest to some ferocious animals." Dino remarked.

"I'd take that over staying out in the open at this point." Roksana said.

"I'll go look inside." Dino volunteered.

"Have fun."

Roksana's instant and heartless sounding reply made Dino look at her with wide eyes. After trying to use his whip when they had told him not to, cutting the ropes of the bridge in the process, Roksana really couldn't help but screw with him a little. Gokudera, though, ruined her fun by grabbing a hold of Dino's shoulder.

"Wait, I can't leave it to you. I'll go." he said.

"If anything happens, scream loud." Yamamoto told him.

Obviously none of the boys in the group were going to try to stop Gokudera. Roksana had a feeling that if it came down to it, they would take any excuse not to do several things.

"Be careful, Hayato." Roksana told him.

Gokudera gave her a grin, assuring her that he would be fine. He vanished into cave and...fifteen seconds later, he screamed. Roksana tensed, wondering what he could have run into so soon that had him screaming like that. Dino and Yamamoto got ready for a fight, Reborn pulling out a gun. Roksana flicked back her long coat, and started reaching for her own weapon when...Bianchi came out of the cave, dragging a foaming-at-the-mouth Hayato with her.

"Bianchi? No wonder he screamed." Roksana remarked.

Bianchi instantly dropped her brother when she saw Reborn, going to the tiny hitman and giving him a hug in greeting. Roksana walked up to Gokudera and nudged his head with one booted toe. The boy didn't move an inch. She always found herself feeling a mix of pity, amusement, and disbelief when she watched him react this way to the mere sight of his sister.

She didn't know about Bianchi, but it would kill Roksana if her brother reacted that way to the sight of her.

"What!? Why is Bianchi here anyway?" Tsuna asked.

"I ended up here while I was collecting poisonous mushrooms three days ago." Bianchi said.

That would explain why none of them had seen Bianchi around the last few days. It also explained why she was in the cave. She had probably taken shelter there during the nights to keep out of the cold somewhat.

"It's an enjoyable place. Even when I tried to go back, I still ended up coming back here." Bianchi added with a laugh.

"Enjoyable isn't the word I would use." Roksana retorted.

It was obvious that Bianchi hadn't realized that she was lost. Roksana also found out that Dino and Bianchi knew each other.

"I was almost killed by the Poison Scorpion several times when I was still Reborn's student." Dino said, calling Bianchi by her assassin name.

"By the way, what did you eat for those three days?" Yamamoto asked Bianchi.

"Poison mushrooms or...poison mushrooms." Bianchi replied.

That really wasn't going to help the rest of them. While Bianchi seemed to have an immunity to poison, the rest of them didn't. Roksana had had food poisoning once, when she was ten, and she didn't want a repeat poisoning. That had sucked enough. The mere smell of food then had sent her running for the nearest bathroom to empty her stomach. A noise from the cave, drew their attention to the cave opening.

"You guys can come out." Bianchi called.

Roksana leaned to the side, peering around Yamamoto. Out of the cave, came I-pin and a crying Lambo. And right behind them...came Haru. The girl rushed Tsuna with tears in her eyes. Roksana stepped to the side, out of her way, letting the other girl throw her arms around Tsuna.

"Haru and those two got lost here two hours ago. When I said I didn't know the way home, they started crying." Bianchi explained.

"That's the normal response." Dino remarked.

"Yeah? My normal response is to be angry with the person responsible." Roksana remarked, her eyes going to Reborn.

"What happened? Why are you guys here?" Tsuna asked Haru who was still hanging off of him.

"'Haru found an article about a delicious cake shop up on the mountains, so the three of us decided to go together.'" Reborn translated for I-pin.

"And I thought I was crazy about sweets. I'd never go up into mountains for cake." Roksana remarked.

When everyone looked at her, Roksana had a lollipop in her mouth and was rolling it around in her mouth idly. To them, it was a bit of an even playing field since Roksana was the one that always had candy in her mouth and was the one that would get angry if someone caused her to drop her candy.

"'But Lambo lied about knowing how to get there, provoked a bee's nest for fun, and we ended up here because he fell off a cliff.'" Reborn continued to translate.

"So it's Lambo's fault." Roksana remarked.

Seemed about right. The little boy had obviously hit his terrible twos a little late in his life. Roksana would not want to be Lambo's mother. The child was a holy terror. Then again...Reborn was worse.

"But Haru's happy. Tsuna-san came to rescue us." Haru said.

"Um...yea. To tell you the truth...we're kinda lost too..." Tsuna admitted.

Roksana covered her ears as Haru wailed. The girl had a good pair of lungs on her to wail that loud. Both she and Lambo latched onto Tsuna, making the boy look like he was about to cry himself. Roksana heaved a sigh. She turned and looked at Yamamoto when he started picking up wood.

"What are you doing, Takeshi?" Roksana asked.

"I'm thinking we could burn some wood. That way we have some SOS signal, get some heat, and scare away the animals." Yamamoto replied.

"Good idea. Brains and atheletic talent. Nice combo." Roksana praised.

Yamamoto grinned widely at her. Gokudera, having recovered from seeing his sister, jumped into the conversation, holding what looked like flares to Roksana. Lit flares.

"If you use these, it'll burn easier." Gokudera said.

Bianchi grabbed his face, turning him to look at her.

"I'm proud of you, Hayato." Bianchi said.

Gokudera was out of it again, falling back and dropping the flares, which succeeded in starting a forest fire when the containers broke. The fire only got worse when Lambo, still crying, started throwing gernades in an attempt to "help" make fire as an apology. Soon they were surrounded by roaring flames. Reborn appeared out of the ground then, dressed like a mole, and shot Tsuna with the Dying Will bullet. Using Leon, who had turned into a pair of rods for finding underground water, Tsuna located a waterway and, with a punch that made Roksana's hands ache, had water bursting free of the ground.

Roksana ended up soaked, and with the addition of water, finally started to feel the cold. To top it off, with the addition of water to their problems, Enzio grew in size. They ended up wet, cold, and on the run once again.

"Dino, if you **ever** bring that turtle around me again, I'm going to shove him where the sun don't shine!" Roksana called to Dino.

With the unpleasant image in his head, Dino sped up, running as fast as he could to get away from Roksana. After taking a tumble down a slope, the group continued running through the trees. It took twenty minutes in the sun for Enzio to finally shrink back to his normal size. Roksana draped herself over a fallen tree, feeling tired, while the others laid on the ground, trying to catch their breaths.

"This...sucks!" Roksana said.

"Tell me about it." Gokudera muttered.

"Where's Dimitri when I need him!?" Roksana muttered in frustration.

It was then that she remembered something. Everyone turned to Roksana as she bolted up straight and started pulling at parts of her clothes, patting herself down. When her hands settled over her chest, she let out a "Ah!" and pulled open the neck of shirt to peer down inside.

"Get out here, will you? How you've been able to sleep through all of this, is beyond me." Roksana said.

The others watched, wondering if she had lost her mind, when suddenly Pinattsu came out of her shirt, climbing up onto her shoulder. Roksana held out a hand, letting the squirrel climb onto it.

"I need you to find us a way out of here or find someone to help us." Roksana told the squirrel.

Pinattsu's nose twitched before she turned and jumped into the air, the flaps between her legs spreading to carry her away. Hopefully Pinattsu would find something or someone. Roksana really didn't feel like spending the night on that mountain.

"You keep a squirrel in your clothes?" Dino asked.

"Pinattsu is a Northern Flying Squirrel. And yes, she sometimes stays in my clothes. Is there a problem?" Roksana asked, giving him a look that clearly said there had better not be a problem.

Dino instantly shook his head, holding his hands up before him. He had already given Roksana enough reason for the day to beat the crap out of him. He really didn't feel like adding on to his death sentence at this point. Thankfully, they didn't have to wait long before Pinattsu returned. Roksana held her hand out for the squirrel to land on.

"Did you find anything?" Roksana asked.

The answer to her question came in the form of a voices yelling her name. Everyone looked up as none other than Dimitri appeared over the crest of a hill, a panicked look on his face. The moment he saw Roksana, he hurried down the hill and swept Roksana off her feet in a hug, much like a father would. When he sat her down, Roksana had to sit through him searching her person for any injuries.

"Miss Tsukiko, my young lady, you simply must stop with all of these foolish hijinks. Your father entrusted me with your well being and thus far...I am failing horribly. Please, please, **please** , for the sake of my old heart if nothing else, try to remain safe. The future of the Volkov family lies on your shoulders and it would break this old heart of mine if you were to be harmed greatly, or worse." Dimitri told her, hands on her shoulders as he hung his head.

Roksana knew he wouldn't feel okay unless she was locked in her room twenty-four-seven, but that was a kind of safety that she would never even attempt to achieve. But if she said this out loud, Dimitri would feel compelled to chain her doors close, take away all communication with the outside word, and limit her world to her bedroom. So she simply assured him she would try to be as safe as possible.

"Actually, the future of Volkov lies with my brother, but I shall attempt to remain safe." Roksana told him.

Happy with that, Dimitri took the lead, to lead them back to civilization. Apparently, despite not having a signal, Dimitri had been able to pick up on the GPS signal of her phone, following it to her. With the added help of Pinattsu, he had been able to located her quickly.

Roksana was just glad to be going home.

"You people make me exhausted." Roksana remarked to her friends as she walked.

"Yeah, but you have to admit...it's fun." Yamamoto said with a large grin.

Maybe it was...maybe it wasn't. Roksana didn't know. What she did know...was that her life was never boring.

END

Kyandi: And there's the chapter. I have to get to work on the next ones.

Roksana: After you finishing updating the other stories that you have chapters ready for.

Kyandi: Yeah, there's that.

Roksana: No procrastinating this time either.

Kyandi: Slave driver!

Roksana: Whatever. Just get to it.

Kyandi: Right. Everyone enjoy and review.

Roksana: We'll return as soon as possible.

Kyandi: Bye-bye!


	6. New Year, New Problems

Kyandi: Greetings all!

Roksana: We apologize for taking so long on updates.

Kyandi: My muse is single minded.

Roksana: But we have, temporarily, fixed that.

Kyandi: Temporarily.

Roksana: Let's roll with it as long as we can.

Kyandi: Yep. So we'll jump into it and be on our way.

Roksana: Probably not the best way to put it.

Kyandi: Sorry. Everyone enjoy and review.

Roksana: Kyandi-sama does not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.

Chapter 6 New Year, New Problems

New Year's found Roksana struggling to figure out how in the world to put on a kimono. How in the world Japanese women dealt with them, was beyond her. She was half tempted to give up on it, but she was suppose to heading out with her friends for the New Year's and girls on New Year's usually wore kimonos, right?

"Maeve! Assistance, please!"

Roksana's bathroom door opened and Maeve peeked in, one hand covering a smile as she looked at Roksana. The girl was half in the kimono, fighting with the obi sash and furrowing her brows as she fought to figure out how to tied it correctly. Maeve drew Roksana's two toned eyes to her as she let out a low giggle.

"This is not amusing, Maeve. Help me." Roksana told her.

"Of course, young miss." Maeve said, stepping into the bathroom.

She walked over to Roksana, nudging the girl into raising her arms straight out to her sides. Taking the folds of the kimono into her hands, Maeve properly folded it before moving on to the obi. The kimono, hand picked by Roksana, with a little help from Kyoko and Haru, was a midnight blue with wispy clouds of silver, dancing along the hem and the edges of the sleeves and a river of silver stars marking a path up and across the span of the kimono. The sash that Maeve quickly wrapped around her and tied, was layered blue over white.

It was pretty, and Roksana actually liked it, but she hated putting the thing on. Finally, Maeve deemed it done and had Roksana take a seat on the stool in front of her vanity so that she could do her hair. Maeve took the fluffy mass of silver-blonde hair into her hands and started working it. She pinned the top layers of Roksana's hair on top of her hair with glittery pins before sweeping the bottom half over her left shoulder.

Maeve was just finishing when there was a knock Roksana's bedroom door. Roksana called out for the person to come in. One of the younger maids in the house, stepped into the room, smiling when she saaw Roksana.

"You look beautiful, Miss Roksana." she told her.

"Thank you. Did you need something?" Roksana asked.

"Yes, ma'am. Your friends, Mr. Gokudera and Mr. Yamamoto, are here for you." the maid replied.

"I'll be right down." Roksana told her.

The maid nodded and left the room. Roksana got to her feet, checking her reflection before taking the small purse she was going to carry, from Maeve. Maeve made her pause for a moment, taking a picture of Roksana. When Roksana gave her a questioning look, Maeve explained that Roksana's father had demanded pictures. Roksana rolled her eyes as she left her room.

Some times her father was such a helicopter parent.

Roksana could hear Yamamoto and Gokudera talking before she headed down the steps. Gokudera cut off in whatever argument the two were having, when he saw Roksana. Yamamoto followed his line of sight to Roksana and smiled.

"Wow! You look great, Roksana!" Yamamoto said in greeting, Gokudera agreeing with him with a nod of his head.

"Thanks." Roksana replied. "We should get going."

Talking among themselves, the three set off. They would meet up with Kyoko and her brother at Tsuna's house. They dropped by Haru's house along the way, picking up the other girl. When they arrived, Kyoko and her brother were already there.

"Happy New Year, 10th!" Gokudera called out as they approached.

"Happy New Year, Tsuna-san!" Haru added.

Kyoko came up to Haru and Roksana to greet them and stopped when she stood in front of Roksana. She gasped then, her hands going to cover her mouth.

"Roksana-chan! Your eyes!" she exclaimed.

Roksana's hands flew up to her face. The moment her fingers touched her face, she cursed to herself. She had forgotten her sunglasses and Yamamoto and Gokudera hadn't said anything when they left her house. Panic instantly welled up inside her.

"They're so pretty!" Kyoko said.

Surprise filled Roksana as she look down at the smiling Kyoko.

"They...are?" Roksana asked.

"They are! Why have you been hiding them?" Kyoko demanded.

Roksana explained to her why she had hidden her eyes, but Kyoko didn't get it. She assured Roksana that no one in their class would care and that she should go without the sunglasses. Roksana gave the other girl a smile. Japanese teenagers, it seemed, were strange, but Roksana was glad for it. If she didn't have to hide her eyes, she wouldn't complain.

"Huh...is there something planned for today?" Tsuna asked, looking at everyone.

Apparently Reborn had planned something again without telling him.

"Today is the New Year's "Family Versus" battle in Vongola style. I called everyone over for that reason." Reborn said, finally showing himself. "Oh. Your opponent is here, too."

Approaching footsteps had Roksana turning. Dino was heading their way, his men behind him. Roksana had a feeling that this was going to end up being one of Reborn's crazy schemes that would end up with someone getting hurt. She just hoped that someone wasn't her this time.

"We came here to play New Year's "Family Verses" battle in Vongola style. It's my first time seeing some of you. Nice to meet you." Dino said, greeting those he had yet to meet.

"Eh...wait...what is this Vongola ceremony thing?" Tsuna asked.

"New Year's "Family Verses" battle in Vongola style is a battle between allied families. It shows the family's enthusiasm for the year and is a tradition that begins the year." Reborn explained.

"Is it something like the Vongolian birthday party again?" Tsuna asked.

Roksana, from the sound of the tone in Tsuna's voice, didn't think she wanted to find out what exactly that was. Her birthday was hectic enough when it came to the gathering of her family members. Her father and uncle didn't exactly cope well in the same room, despite being brothers.

Total catalysm of the world had nothing on the two of them in the same room.

"No. The New Year's battle is where representatives from each family participate in New Year's themed competitions. The marks awarded will decide the winner. Also, the winning family is awarded a generous prize." Reborn assured him.

"It's only a game this time?" Tsuna asked, surprised.

Wait for it...

"In addition, the loser family will be fined one million yen." Reborn added.

And there it was.

"It's just as crazy as before!" Tsuna snapped.

"It can't be helped. Rules are rules." Reborn insisted.

"The way you say that is really annoying!" Tsuna told him.

"Geez, Tsuna. You always get angry over a child's game." Yamamoto said.

"One million dollars is such a wonderful dream." Kyoko added.

"The event feels very New Year's-like. It seems fun." Haru agreed.

Roksana didn't even try to correct them that it wasn't a game. There was no point since the three of them were pretty dense. They would probably continue to believe it was nothing more than a game dreamed up by a child.

Boy, were they horribly mistaken.

"Wait a minute, Reborn-san. Why is a person outside of the family participating in a "Family Verses" battle?" Gokudera asked, pointing at Kyoko's brother.

"Compared to Cavallone, the number of members in the Vongola family is much lower. Due to special circumstances, Tsuna's acquaintances will also be considered as family." Reborn explained.

"Meaning, I will also be a part of the Vongolia family today!" Ryohei said, jamming a thumb towards himself.

"It's Vongola!" Gokudera snapped.

Roksana shook her head. Since Tsuna's house was too small to hold all of them, they relocated to a spot close to the river. Reborn would act as the judge between the two families, which didn't really sit right with Roksana. She had known him long enough to know that this could go wrong in so many ways and very quickly at that. Tsuna and Dino stepped up to stand before each other.

"No grudges held, regardless of who wins, Tsuna." Dino said.

"How did it turn out this way!?" Tsuna whined.

"Buck up, Tsuna." Roksana called out.

Sometimes, it really amazed her how little back bone Tsuna had. The guy needed to learn to buck up some if he was going to be the boss of a mafia family. It took a lot of back bone to lead a successful family that didn't get trampled by it's enemies.

"The first round is fortune drawing." Reborn annouced.

"F-fortune drawing!? How are you going to tally up the scores with fortune drawing!?" Tsuna demanded.

"Easy. Very lucky is two points, lucky is one point, normal is zero points, unlucky is negative one point, and very unlucky is negative two points." Reborn explained.

"What the heck!?" Tsuna demanded.

"That actually makes a lot of sense." Roksana remarked.

Tsuna glanced at her in questioning, but she shrugged her shoulders. Reborn had actually been pretty reasonable with the way he had gone about the ranking system for the points. Tsuna turned back to Reborn, thinking about what to do. As far as he could tell, it didn't really make a difference who drew the fortune.

"Leave this to me!" Ryohei said, stepping forward. "I don't believe in fortune telling, because I decide my own fate. And this is my method!"

Ryohei shoved his hand into the box of fortunes. When he pulled his hand out of the box, he had a whole hand full of fortunes. Roksana could tell this could go bad. With that many fortunes, there were bound to be a couple of bad ones among them. Ryohei handed them over to Reborn and Reborn opened them, proving Roksana right when they turned out to be seven very unlucky ones and three unlucky ones, giving them a score of negative seventeen points.

The man Dino sent to draw for the fortune, pulled out a single fortune which turned out to be lucky, given them one point. Roksana heaved a sigh.

"The marks will be put on the Vongola board." Reborn said, adding the scores to the board sitting beside him. "The second round is featherball. The winner will receive twenty points with one win."

Tsuna instantly turned to Yamamoto, naming him as the one to step forward for this round. Yamamoto agreed easily. The guy Dino picked was a man who was a former tennis pro player. The two took the game seriously, but, it seemed...Yamamoto took it a little too seriously. He hit the ball as hard as he could, sending it flying far away from them. Of course, it was counted out and they lost, putting the score at twenty-one to negative seventeen.

And thus went the course of events with Lambo losing at a face puzzle, Haru losing in a game of hyakunin isshu, I-pin losing at flying a kite, and, in Roksana's opinion, the saddest lose yet, Gokudera losing at a board game because he couldn't compliment someone in his family.

"Ah, what am I going to do!? At this rate, I'll be one hundred million yen in debt! It's going to be a hell of a debt for the rest of my life!" Tsuna whined.

"Come to think of it, it seems kind of unfair, doesn't it?" Dino asked, stepping up to Tsuna. "It's adults versus kids after all. I'll give them a handicap."

"You got a point there. Let's just say the points from earlier don't count. It's becoming too troublesome, so whoever wins the next round will be the winner. The loser has to dish out one billion yen." Reborn said.

"Hey, Reborn! Don't be so absurd!" Tsuna complained.

"It can't be helped. Once he has an idea, he won't let it go." Dino told Tsuna.

"You're okay with it!?"" Tsuna asked.

"For the final competition, every family member must participate in the making of rice cakes. Whoever gives me delicious red bean rice cake will be the winner." Reborn said.

"10th! Let's turn the tables and take the lead with this!" Gokudera said.

Tsuna and Roksana turned to look at Dino and his men where they were set up with their station. Having grown up in Italy, none of them knew how to make rice cakes, while most of Tsuna's family was from Japan and therefore knew how to make them. They all got to work, Gokudera, Ryohei, and Yamamoto working on the rice and Roksana, Kyoko, and Haru tying back their sleeves to get to work on the red bean paste. Tsuna was sure they would have it in the bag when the rice cake Dino and his men made, ended up being bad.

Instead, he found out that half way through the cooking process, Bianchi had arrived and had taken over, turning their rice cake into poison cooking.

"That aside, does that mean we're gonna lose!?" Tsuna asked.

Bianchi declared that cooking was all about love and that as long as there was love, the poison would be neutralized. Roksana highly doubted that that was how poison worked. Thankfully for Reborn, he fell asleep, leaving Bianchi to turn to Tsuna and Dino, demanding they be the ones to taste test the rice cake. Both of which, promptly ran away, leaving their families behind.

In the end, because the bosses of both families ran away, the winner could not be decided and the whole thing ended in a tie. Despite the weirdness of the whole affair, Roksana actually had fun and she had learned that not everyone would look at her eyes and run away.

Perhaps she didn't need sunglasses anymore.

-0-0-0-0-

This couldn't be happening, this couldn't be happening.

Roksana was going to die.

"Honestly! You **don't** have to be here."

Roksana currently stood in the hallway of her school, outside her classroom. Standing in front of her...was her father.

Alexei Volkov was a tall, towering man of pure intimidation. His silver-blonde hair, much like that of his daughter's, was sleeked back on his head, just a few strands loose to fall over his forehead. For a man with a teenaged daughter, he looked young, his face unlined, though there were a few wrinkles at the corners of his deep blue-purple eyes.

He stood in front of his daughter, his back straight as a board, his shoulders stiff, and dressed in a fancy, three piece, black suit, a red tie neatly tied at this throat. His hands were folded behind his back as he looked down at his daughter.

"If I am correct, Roksana, today is parent participation day, is it not?" he asked, his deep booming voice carrying.

Unknown to Roksana, her friends were approaching, staring between her and the huge man standing before her.

"That doesn't mean you need to clear your whole day and fly all the way here, Father. Your approval ratings are going to fall! And what of Natalia and Marc?" Roksana replied.

"My approval ratings will not fall because I have taken the day to support my daughter's education. If anything, they will improve. The people of Russia like being reminded that I am a father. And your step-mother was the loudest supporter for me making the trip here. She sends her love, by the way." Alexei replied, his voice heavy with a Russian accent.

Roksana heaved a sigh. It was embarrassing to have one's parents present at school, but it was doubly so for Roksana, considering that her father's body guards stood on either side of the door into the classroom, intimidating all who walked through the door. It was bad enough for her that Dimitri sometimes treated her like a child, now she had armed bodyguards watching her class like a hawk.

Gods, she hoped Reborn didn't show up today.

"Roksana-chan?"

Roksana and her father turned as Kyoko approached her. Roksana greeted her with a smile as Yamamoto, Gokudera, and Tsuna joined her.

"Hello." Roksana greeted.

"Roksana."

Roksana glanced at her father before turning to her friends.

"Guys, this is my father, Volkov Alexei. Father, these are my friends, Kyoko, Tsuana, Hayato, and Takeshi. They are in my class as well." Roksana told her father.

"I see." Alexei said, his steely eyes sweeping the boys behind Kyoko before he turned to his daughter.

Alexei bent over, putting his head on level with it daughter's. Which was quite a bend when he was roughly a foot taller than her. He fixed Roksana with a clearly not amused look.

"Roksana...why are they mostly boys?" he demanded.

"That's what happens when you raise me as a boy, Father." Roksana replied, turning to look her father in the eyes.

The two stared at each other for a moment, their expressions stern. To those watching, it almost looked like father and daughter were about to come to blows. But then a tiny smile jerked at one corner of his mouth and Alexei dropped a large hand on top of his daughter's head.

"I have no come back to that one, my little _tigritsa_. Very good." Alexei told her.

He stood up straight, straightening out his shoulders once more, and turned to look at Roksana's friends. Though he didn't show it, he was happy to see that Roksana had made friends and that she felt comfortable enough around them, not to hide her eyes. He had worried about people accepting her.

"It is a pleasure to meet you. Now, Roksana, show me your classroom." Alexei said.

"Of course, Father."

Roksana gestured for her father to go ahead of her. When his back was to her, she turned an embarrassed and somewhat put out look on her friends, who smiled at her. They all followed her father into the classroom, the students taking their seats while Roksana's father joined the rest of the parents at the back of the classroom.

"So today is Parent Participation Day. You are all probably very nervous, but relax and just act like you always do. And I will make the same mistakes that I always do." the teacher announced.

From there, the teacher started the class, starting off with Roksana's worst subject; math. He called upon Yamamoto first, who got lucky and guessed the right answer to his question. Yamamoto's dad cheered for him and the teacher moved on to Gokudera, who also answered his question correctly. His next victim, was Tsuna. When Tsuna tired to guess at the answer, something hit him in the back of the head. Roksana turned to see what was going on and spotted Reborn, dressed like a creepy old lady.

Gods, why did Reborn have to show up on a day like this one. If her father found out that Roksana was apart of a mafia family and that Tsuna was her boss and Reborn was some weird mafia trainer, he would drag her back to Russia.

And then Lambo and I-pin showed up. Lambo caused a little trouble, managing to erase the blackboard with his hair before Tsuna's mother rounded them up. To make things worse, Bianchi showed up then, making Gokudera sick at the mere sight of her. When Tsuna's mother, Bianchi, and the teacher took Gokudera to the nurse's office, Reborn decided to take over the class as the teacher. Roksana silently pleaded with any gods that were listening, for Reborn not to do anything stupid.

She watched as he wrote an equation on the born that only someone in NASA could possibly answer and then told the class that if they could answer the question, then he would introduce them to a good employment opening in the mafia.

Roksana's forehead hit her desk. Things only got worse when one student tried to talk back. Reborn threw a piece of chalk at him with enough force that when it hit the boy's forehead, it exploded into powder. When the boy's mother spoke up, she too, got hit with chalk. Lambo showed back up then and Reborn threw a bomb at him. Roksana was sure that if Reborn so much as turned his attention on her father, than the two bodyguards Alexei brought with him, would attack. Everything would go to hell then.

By the end of the class, in which Tsuna ended up in his underwear and Reborn blew up Gokudera for answering the equation, Roksana was ready to die. When the class ended, she slowly turned to look at her father as he approached her.

"Roksana."

"Yes, Father?"

"...please tell me that your classes are not normally like this."

Roksana felt relief. Her father didn't look angry, but rather concerned. He really had changed since Marc's birth. Roksana gave him a smile.

"Do not worry, Father. Rebo-yama is Tsuna's home tutor. He rarely ever fills in if the teacher is not here. You have no reason to worry." Roksana assured him.

Alexei nodded, comforted by his daughter's words. She was glad he accepted it so easily. She wouldn't have made it easy on him if he tried to make her leave Japan. While, yes, she loved being in Japan, there was another reason she was here. She wouldn't go home.

She **couldn't** go home.

There was a reason that kept her away and because of that, she couldn't afford for her father to feel like he had to drag her back to Russia. So, she was grateful that, while the class had been chaos and strange in every way of the word, he was letting it blow over.

Now she just had to get him out of the school without running into Hibari.

As Roksana walked out of her class and down the hall with her father, she didn't notice Hibari watching her from around a corner. Hibari had been keeping his eyes on her for quite a while, had noticed when she had stopped wearing the sunglasses. Though she wasn't wearing them anymore, her uniform was still out of code. He just didn't approach her about it.

Yet.

As she left her classroom, his eyes locked on the tall, steely looking man at her side. With the similar hair color and eyes that, minus the strike of green across them, were only shades darker than her own, he could be nothing but her father. He certainly had a politician look to him. He walked with all the presence of a man of power, his shoulders back and his back straight as a rod. He showed no emotion save a brief display of affection when he laid a large hand on his daughter's shoulder and gave her a soft and fond smile.

He looked like a father that would rule his children with an iron fist and yet he allowed his teenaged daughter to live in another country completely. It made Hibari curious, but with her coming from a family headed by a politician, he doubted he would find the answers in her school file.

Just then, Roksana half turned, her two toned eyes finding him. Her chin came up, one eyebrow raising, as if daring him to approach her when her father was there. Hibari smirked in reply to the look. Roksana simply shrugged one shoulder and turned back around to say something to her father. But Hibari didn't miss what she did next.

Behind her back, where her father couldn't see, Roksana raised on hand...and flipped Hibari off.

Hibari chuckled lowly to himself as he watched father and daughter walk away. Day by day, she only grew more interesting to him.

Only time could tell what that interest would grow into.

END

Kyandi: And there's the new chapter.

Roksana: God, you just had to be bring my father in, didn't you?

Kyandi: He's kind of like my father.

Roksana: Your father is a goofy, farming tech. Mine is a tyrant of a politician.

Kyandi: Perhaps, but they are similar in how they treat us and how they appear to others. A lot of people call my father a dick.

Roksana: And he's not?

Kyandi: ...I wouldn't say that.

Roksana: Well...as pleasant as this conversation is, let's wrap this up.

Kyandi: Right, I have more chapters to do. Everyone enjoy and review.

Roksana: We will return as soon as possible.

Kyandi: Bye-bye!


	7. Valentine's Day

Kyandi: Hey, all! I have returned.

Roksana: And with a lot of announcements.

Kyandi: Right. First off, I have been informed that I'm behind the times, so I made a Twitter. You'll find the link on my bio page, just take out the spaces.

Roksana: She'll put out tweets so you know new chapters are on the way before they are posted, you can ask questions, and so on.

Kyandi: Just another way for all of you to keep up with me. Speaking of questions, I'm doing a Q&A youtube video, so if you have a burning question, rather it's about one of my characters, me, or my opinions or something, then ask and I'll cover it in the video. What else?

Roksana: Pole and contest.

Kyandi: Right! There's a new pole on my bio page, so go vote on that. As for the contest...I'm holding a contest for all of you lovelies who are artists. Draw a picture of what you think one of my characters would look like in a Halloween costume and send it to me or link me to it. I'll pick my favorites and will feature them in a video.

Roksana: If you can't draw or don't want to, then you can at least vote.

Kyandi: Yep! With that, everyone enjoy and review.

Roksana: Kyandi-sama does not own Katekyo Hitman REBORN.

Chapter 7 Valentine's Day

"What...the hell...is going on?"

When Roksana had tagged along with Yamamoto and Gokudera to Tsuna's, she hadn't been expecting the scene that unfolded in front of her. Tsuna, with Haru, Reborn, Lambo, I-pin, and a boy she had never met before, was sitting in the middle of Tsuna's trashed bedroom. It looked like a hurricane had come crashing through Tsuna's room. She kind of wanted to know what had happened, but she also kind of didn't. Either way she got her answer though, when Gokudera's eyes landed on the boy she didn't know, who was introduced as Futa.

"Why didn't you tell me that the ranking kid is here!?" Gokudera demanded.

"Ranking kid?" Roksana asked, looking at Yamamoto who shrugged in reply.

Exactly what was Gokudera talking about? A ranking kid? Ranking for what?

"Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna called in surprise.

"I bumped into him a while ago. It seemed interesting, so I tagged along." Yamamoto said.

"And then they ran into me, so I came with as well." Roksana added.

Though she was now kind of questioning her choice.

Tsuna greeted Yamamoto and Roksana as well as the three joined them in Tsuna's bedroom. Roksana took a seat next to Haru, greeting her with a smile. Gokudera, on the other hand, had his mind fixed on something else.

"I have been meaning to ask the ranking kid something for a while now. There's only one thing I want to know...for the ranking of people suitable to be the 10th's right hand man, what place am I!?" Gokudera demanded. "Can it be done, ranking kid?"

"That's easy. The ranking for who is most suitable to be Tsuna-nii's right hand man, right? Let's see, Hayato-nii's place is..."

Roksana shifted on the spot, her eyes flickering around the room as things started floating in the air. Why did she always seem to find herself in the strangest situations whenever she was with her friends? Things like this had never happened to her before she had met them, why now? If she had been anything like the older people she knew back in Russia, this would have probably sent her into a fit of cursing this as the works of a demon. But she wasn't and this just made her a little weirded out.

She was starting to wonder if she would ever get use to all the weird things that happened around Tsuna. Maybe, maybe not. Only time would tell if she would.

"Hayato-nii's place is...out of range." Futa said.

"What!?"

Roksana was sure that Gokudera was going to pass out. That or break something. It wasn't the answer he had been hoping for.

"There's such a thing as range in ranking?" Tsuna asked.

"I didn't say it was out of range for the ranking. It's atmospherically out of range." Futa replied.

Roksana shook her head. This whole thing was just ridiculous. Yamamoto, forever the dense goofball, laughed, calling Futa "another funny guy". Roksana didn't think he was too far off with that description of his. She had met a lot of "funny guys" recently.

"But there are more jobs for you than just being the right hand man, Hayato-nii." Futa spoke up. "Hayato-nii ranks number one out of eighty-two thousand two hundred and three for people suitable as a kindergarten teacher."

Roksana couldn't help the laughter that spilled from her lips. The image, while funny to her, wasn't a pleasant one for Gokudera. The thing was...Roksana really could see him being in some kind of job that required him to work with children. Despite how he acted with Lambo, he just seemed like the type that would be good with children.

"After all, Hayato-nii is number two out of eighty-two thousand two hundred and three people who likes kids. It's the most suitable job." Futa added.

"I...I like kids?" Gokudera asked in shock.

"I commend you, Futa! Great ranking skills!" Yamamoto said brightly.

"The number one person in that ranking...is Volkov Roksana-nee." Futa said.

All eyes turned to Roksana in surprise. Roksana just blinked back at them before raising an eyebrow in questioning.

"What? I like children, so what. I do have a kid brother." Roksana replied. "I wouldn't be much of a big sister if I didn't, at least, like him."

She had always liked children. They were generally very trusting and so full of life and, depending on the age, a lot more accepting than adults and teenagers were. Back home in Russia, her idea of a perfect day, was being able to sit and hold her baby brother to her heart's content. It wasn't a bad thing.

It was then that Bianchi chose to make her entrance, saying that the most important thing was love. She demanded for a love ranking and Reborn, claiming it would be fun, told Futa to do it. Futa agreed and started with Tsuna. Everyone was surprised when Leon, Reborn's lizard, was at the top of the list. Outside, it had started raining, the drops making tiny pings on the windows. The moment the rain started to pour down on the ground below, Futa went quiet, laying on the floor looking glum.

"What's wrong, Futa!?" Tsuna asked.

"I feel heavy. I'm really weak to rain. I hate the rain. My ranking goes all wonky." Futa told him.

"W-what did you just say?" Tsuna asked. "So the ranking after it started to rain is all wrong?

"I presume the ranking goes askew when it rains because there is an interference with the ranking planet's connection." Reborn said.

"Ranking planet? Come on, now you're just trying to weird me out." Roksana grumbled.

It was at times like this, that it became too much and she was ready to call it quits. She was about to get up and announce that she was leaving when Futa turned to her and smiled.

"Roksana-nee has a truly great ranking." he announced.

All eyes turned to Roksana who blinked back in surprise. She didn't know what Futa was talking about, but he had effectively caught her attention.

"What ranking?" Roksana asked.

Futa's grin grew and what came out of his mouth next...she couldn't really deny. He pulled his ridiculously large ranking book and flipped a few pages before he came to the right page.

"Number one out of eighty-two thousand two hundred and three in protective older sibling instincts."

Like she said...she couldn't deny it.

-0-0-0-0-

Over the next couple of weeks, Roksana found herself busy. Valentine's Day was approaching quickly and she was contemplating giving chocolates to her friends. Of course, Yamamoto and Gokudera would have their fair share of chocolates. Both were highly popular with girls and Roksana had already over heard several girls planning to give them chocolate. While Roksana's would just be from one friend to another, she was sure her's would be different from other girls' simply because she was going to be using her grandmother's recipe for homemade chocolates.

No one made chocolate like her Grandma Svetlana.

So, this particular day in early Febuary found Roksana walking down the hall after school, running through a list of ingredients she would need while she talked on the phone with her grandmother. Svetlana Volkov was an aging woman of influence and kindness. One of the few people in her father's family that didn't look down on her for the fact that she was a half breed child born out of wedlock. Roksana loved her grandmother and the woman had been the one who gave her the name Roksana.

"Uh-huh, yes...anything else? Alright. I got it. Love you, _babushka_. Yes, I will call again soon. Bye."

Roksana was smiling when she hung up her phone, slipping the device back into her bag before turning to check the list of ingredients her grandmother had given her. She would stop by the store on the way home and would pick up what she needed. It would then just be a matter of getting Dimitri and Maeve to leave her alone long enough for her to make the chocolates herself.

"An actual smile...better than a sneer."

Roksana heaved an annoyed sigh as she came to a stop, turning to face the speaker. She really didn't have the time to deal with him today. Her head tilted back as her eyes landed on Hibari who was leaning against a door jam. He was watching her with a half smirk on his face. Snapping her notebook close, she slid it into her bag before propping one hand on her hip.

"No one asked you. What do you want? I don't have time to deal with you today." she told him.

"Your uniform is still out of dress code." he replied.

By this point, he had, honestly, ceased caring about how she wore her uniform. Now, it was more about finding an excuse to mess with her than anything. He watched as she barked out a laugh, her mouth twisting into a mocking grin.

"Yeah, that's not going change, so if you honestly want to pick a fight with me over it, leave it until tomorrow and **then** I will kick your ass." Roksana said before turning on her heel.

Roksana only heard the faint whip of his jacket and spun on the spot, backing away from him as he quickly approached her. He ended up backing her up against the wall, one hand hitting the wall just to the right of her head. Roksana's eyes shifted to his hand for a mere moment before turning to his face.

"If this is an attempt to scare me, you sorely missed your mark." she told him.

"I don't remember you ever beating me." he replied instead of remarking to her comment.

"Do I need to slap you with my shoe again for you to remember?"

She had a smart remark for everything!

It both annoyed and amused him.

Standing there, Roksana raised a leg, wiggling the foot to display the indoor slipper that clad her foot. She tilted her head to the side, that mocking grin still curling her lips.

"Oh, lookie here...another shoe for which to slap you. You really should learn the definition of "personal space" before I really start liking the idea of my shoe kissing you goodbye." she taunted.

Hibari braced his other hand on the other side of her head, boxing her in. He leaned in closer, Roksana eyeing him intently as he did. Up close, he couldn't help admiring the vivid contrast between the blue-purple of her eyes and the single slash of emerald green that cut through both irises. How anyone could find something so beautiful in it's uniqueness, to be a sign of demon possession was beyond him. Personally...he liked it.

"Did you hear me? I said back up."

Roksana pushing on his chest, making him back up a few steps, brought him back to the current conversation. Roksana slipped past him and took a few steps to put some distance between them. Apparently she had an issue with him being so close to her if they weren't fight.

"As exhilarating as this conversation is, I'm busy today and I honestly don't have the time to entertain you. You'll have to find someone else to amuse yourself with." Roksana told him.

With that, she spun on her heel and walked away. For some reason, the fact that she was busy had him feeling mischievous. He really wanted to mess with her today and wasn't exactly sure why. Perhaps he should indulge this whim, see where it took him.

Perhaps he would.

-0-0-0-0-

"I have the cocoa, cream, sugar..."

Roksana shifted through her bags, checking off everything on her list a second time, just to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything. Smiling to herself, she headed off down the street. Peering up at the slowly darkening sky, Roksana checked her phone. It was getting late. Thankfully, she had called Dimitri ahead of time to let him know that she was going to the store and would be home late.

Of course, he had insisted on her coming home and one of the household staff going to the store for her, but Roksana wanted at least one normal teenage experience in her life. She had never gone grocery shopping before and hadn't realized how fun it could be. Roksana was busy already planning out how much chocolate she would have to make and failed to hear the chuckling before three men stepped out of an alley ahead of her, blocking her path down the street.

Roksana came to a stop a good distance from them, turning to look behind her as four more guys stepped out of the growing shadows to block her retreat. They had her trapped between them. Roksana's head whipped back and forth, eyeing the men.

"Look what we got here, boys." one man called, a few of the others letting out wolf whistles. "A hot high school girl."

"I'm in middle school." Roksana retorted.

"Oooh, even better." said another.

Roksana knew she would have to fight her way out of this when they started closing in ranks around her. She backed up to the wall blocking her on one side and sat her bags down against the wall. She didn't want anything she had bought to get ruined.

"I'm only going to warn you once. Back off or regret it." Roksana told them.

Her reply was a lot of laughing as the men continued to approach her. Fine, then. She could handle this. Reaching under her skirt, Roksana pulled out her pole, snapping it to it's full length. A few of the laughs died off, but the men still grinned at her.

"What? Gonna give us trouble, little girl?" one man asked.

"What do you think?" Roksana retorted.

The man looked at his companions, his grin growing. When he turned back to Roksana, opening his mouth to say something, Roksana was already in front of him, swinging the pole. With a crack, the pole hit him in the side of the head, sending him sprawling on the ground. Rokana scoffed as she looked down at his unconscious form.

"I warned you." Roksana said, turning to the others. "Who's next?"

Several of the men backed away from her, but one of them, probably the leader, ground his teeth together before he pulled a gun from the back of his waist band. Roksana grit her own teeth. While she was fast, she was not fast enough to dodge a bullet at this range. The man pointed the gun at Roksana.

"Alright, be a good girl and drop the pole. Then we're going to have you come with us." he told her as one of his companions slapped their unconscious friend awake.

"Not a chance. I'd rather bite a bullet." Roksana answered instantly.

Apparently she was the first person that didn't beg for her life when staring down his gun for he gave her an incredulous look. Roksana had some dignity. She wasn't going to beg for anything. She would find a way out of this.

She had to.

"If that's what you want..."

Okay, so time to figure something out had just run out.

Crap...

Roksana's eyes zeroed in on his finger as it moved to the trigger. In that moment, her Fight response kicked in and her body moved as if of it's own accord. Her knees bent, her body shifting downward, her weight shifting, ready to jump forward, and then...

Roksana's eyes widened when something darted between her and the gun. There was the sound of metal against metal and then the gun shot rang out. Roksana jolted at first, fearful, for a moment, that she had been shot. But there was no pain, nothing. A quick glance down at her body assured her that there were no bloody holes in her person. She heaved a relieved sigh but quickly turned her attention back to her would-be shooter.

If her father hadn't drilled elegeance into her, her jaw would have hit the ground. Standing protectively between her and her would-be attackers...was Hibari.

"Hi...Hibari!?" Roksana gasped.

Hibari peered at her over his shoulder. While he enjoyed the look of sheer disbelief and shock on her face, he quickly returned his attention to the men standing in front of him. The man that had been holding the gun was now shaking out his hand in pain, the gun laying a hand full of yards away from him. When Hibari had knocked the gun aside with his tonfa, he had ended up knocking the gun out of the man's hand.

"What are you doing out here at this time of night? Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Hibari demanded of Roksana.

Truth be told, he knew Roksana was capable of taking care of herself. If it hadn't been for the gun, he had no doubt she could have whipped the men's asses. It was why he hadn't immediately come to her aid. But once he had seen the gun being drawn, he knew she would never move fast enough to avoid it at such close range. She was fast, but she wasn't that fast. But, with no other choice, she had been prepared to try just that. He had seen her shifting in weight as she prepared herself to take a diving leap out of the gun's line of fire.

That being said, he couldn't help poking at her.

"Oh, yes, that was exactly my plans for today, how ever did you know?" Roksana shot back, her tone laced with sarcasm. "Are you stupid!? Of course I didn't purposely walk into this. I was merely heading home after going to the store. This is the quickest way home."

"Sometimes the quickest isn't the smartest." Hibari told her.

"Yeah, I noticed. Thanks for the update."

"What the hell are you two chattering about!? Don't you realize the position you're in!?" the man who had held the gun barked.

Roksana and Hibari both focused in on the man and his six companions. Roksana stepped forward until she was standing beside Hibari, her eyes locking on his. For once, the two of them were on the same page, the same thought passing through their heads. Turning back to face the men surrounding them, Roksana scanned them.

"I'll take the four to the left, you take the three to the right." Roksana told Hibari.

"No. You'll take the three to left and I'll take the three to the right and the one who had the gun." Hibari told her.

"Do you have to argue everything? I am perfectly capable of taking on four of them."

"You almost got shot."

"And? You're just as easy to shoot as I am. And the others could just as easily be carrying a gun."

"You're right...I'll handle all seven of them."

Roksana's jaw fell as she whipped around to stare at him, elegeance forgotten. Her temper was starting to climb and it wasn't even the ones that had attempted to attack her, that she was angry with. It was her sort-of rescuer.

"Watch it or I'll hit you instead of them. Do I need to smack you with my shoe?" Roksana demanded.

Hibari glanced at her, but, wisely, didn't say anything. He wasn't afraid of her or anything. He simply didn't feel like arguing with her. But Roksana wasn't in the mood to have him basically ignore her comments either. Hibari ducked when Roksana suddenly swung her pole at him. Instead of hitting him, though, she wacked one of the seven men right across the face. Ironically...it was the same one she had previously hit.

Roksana cursed in Russian and darted backwards to avoid his counter attack. She dropped to the ground, rolling out of the way, letting Hibari knock a man unconscious with a hit across the face.

Hibari and Roksana clashed, attacking and dodging each other's attacks. By the time they were both a little short on breath, they had, unconsciously...knocked out every single one of the men. Roksana and Hibari looked at the mess they had made of the men. Everyone single one had bruising already visible on their faces and at least two of them had broken noses. Roksana tilted her head to the side.

"We are **really** bad for those around us." Roksana muttered lowly.

She wasn't kidding. That being said, it had worked out in their favor this time. While neither of them had landed a hit on the other, they had taken out Roksana's would-be attackers.

Roksana glanced at Hibari as he poked one guy with the end of his tonfa. Rolling her eyes, she turned back to her grocery bags, collapsing her pole and sliding it back into it's holster on her thigh. She picked up the bags, juggling all of them in her two hands, and when she turned around, Hibari was right there behind her.

"What do you want now?" she asked.

"Aren't you forgetting to thank someone?" he replied.

"You? Thank you? Yeah, that's not going to happen. I might have thanked you...if it wasn't you." Roksana replied.

With that, she slipped past him and started off down the road, making sure to step on the back of the man who had pulled his gun on her, along her way. Hibari, grinning after watching her spitefully step on a man, followed her. When he reached her, he stepped in front of her, holding out a hand.

"What?" Roksana asked.

"Give me the bags."

Roksana blinked in surprise. Was he...offering to help her carry the bags? That was a huge shock. But she wasn't going to dwell on it long.

"What? And have you see where I live? Yeah, not happening. Just go home." Roksana told him walking past him.

Hibari turned to watch her as she headed off down the street. He hadn't missed the small grin on her face as she had walked past him. He might have just earned a point in his favor with her. Not that he cared, of course, but he could find a way to use that in his favor.

Maybe.

-0-0-0-0-

 _And...done!_

Roksana smiled proudly as she pulled out the last of her chocolates. By following her grandmother's recipe to the "T", and with a little help from Dimitri, Roksana had managed to make the chocolates without any mishaps. No burns or misshapen chocolates, nothing. Which was a good thing. She really didn't want to hear her father get upset because she had ruined something or burned herself trying to make chocolates for boys.

"Now for the boxes and ribbons!"

Roksana turned to the basket where she had sat the boxes and ribbons. She had gone a little over board with the ribbon and had bought eight different ones. One was orange, that would be for Tsuna. Another was red and she would use that one for Gokudera's. The third one was blue and she would use it for Yamamoto. The fourth one was yellow and instantly called Dino to mind so she would use it for his. The fifth was black and white and, with a laugh, she sat that one aside for Lambo. The sixth was a pretty gold that made her think of Futa despite only knowing the boy for a short amount of time. The last two were green and purple. When she looked at the green, she thought of Reborn's little lizard, Leon, so she decided to use the green for Reborn.

Roksana's eye turned to the purple ribbon. It was such a pretty color and it seemed like such a waste not to use it, but she already had a ribbon for each of the seven people she was giving chocolates to. So what to do with the ribbon. Roksana stared at it when an idea came to her.

It wouldn't be appreciated and there was a high likelihood of her getting teased for this later down the road, but she had never let what others think get in her way.

Boo on anyone who made fun of her.

-0-0-0-0-

"Stop following me around!"

Roksana looked up from she was sitting, fighting back a laugh. It was Valentine's Day and both Gokudera and Yamamoto were flooded with girls seeking to get them to take their chocolates. Roksana was perched on Tsuna's desk, her bag in her lap.

"Wow, they're so popular. It's been like that all day." Tsuna remarked.

"Yeah. Oh! That reminds me." Roksana said, turning to her bag.

Tsuna looked up at her as she sat a small white box with an orange ribbon tied around it, in front of him.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Tsuna." Roksana told him.

"These are for me?" he asked.

"Yeah. My grandmother has a really good chocolate recipe, so hopefully I did the recipe justice." Roksana told him.

"You made these?" he asked.

"Yeah. It's not a big deal."

Tsuna thanked her. It was the first bit of chocolate he had gotten that day. He had been hoping that Kyoko would give him chocolate and it was driving him insane wondering if she had given anyone else any. Tsuna turned, looking at Kyoko, the curiosity killing him. Finally he gripped at his hair in frustration.

"Arrgh, I'm so curious! But if I see her giving it to someone, I'll be so depressed. It'll be the end of the world!" Tsuna said out loud.

Roksana didn't need to ask to know what Tsuna was talking about. She had seen the look he had throw Kyoko's way before his little outburst.

"Then just ask her directly."

Tsuna jolted, Roksana leaning around him to see Reborn sitting on the desk behind him. Tsuna told him to leave, but Reborn had another plan. He shot Tsuna with the Dying Will bullet and Roksana watched as Tsuna ran off, yelling something about finding out if Kyoko was giving chocolate to anyone. Roksana shook her head before turning to Reborn. She was not going to get dragged into Tsuna's problems that day.

"Here, Reborn, for you." Roksana said, handing him the box wrapped in a green ribbon.

"Thank you." Reborn told her.

"Have fun with Tsuna." Roksana told Reborn.

She hopped off the desk, and headed for Gokudera and Yamamoto. Gokudera ended up with a look of wide eyed surprise when she gave him his chocolate and both thanked her. Roksana waved it off and left the classroom. She would have to stop by Tsuna's house to drop off Futa's, Lambo's, and Dino's chocolates. That would take care of seven of her eight chocolate.

With that thought, Roksana pulled out the only black box, it's purple ribbon tied neatly around it. She stared at it for a moment before heading for the stairs leading up to the third floor.

Best to just get this over with.

-0-0-0-0-

Valentine's Day.

Hibari had never understood the day. Girls would go crazy making or buying chocolate to give to the guy they liked. It had never made any sense to him. Not that any girl was ever brave enough to give him chocolate in the first place. They were all afraid of him. If he actually met a girl with enough guts to do it, then he might get the whole thing.

Might.

At the moment, Hibari was walking down the hall towards the Reception Room, his makeshift headquarters, so to speak. Just before he rounded to corner, which would put him in sight of the room, Roksana came around the corner. Hibari was surprised to see her. As far as he knew, she had no reason to even be on the third floor. She looked over at him as she passed him but didn't say a word to him, just kept walking.

While he was suspicious, he had work he had to do, so he would have to worry about it later. He rounded the corner and was soon standing in the doorway of the Reception Room. He dropped his bag on the chair and turned. It was then that something sitting on the desk, caught his eye. It was a small black box, just big enough to fit in the palms of both hands. Wrapped around it was a royal purple ribbon with a note attached to it.

Hibari approached the box and, using the end of one tonfa, flipped the lid off the box. Inside were chocolates. Cautious, he tried a bite of one. The sweet, smooth and rich taste coated his tongue. It was, hands down, the best chocolate he had ever tried. Curious, he turned to the note on the lid. Flipping it open he read the quick little note and knew instantly who it was from and it put a grin on his face.

 _Thank you,_

 _R_

END

Kyandi: Hehe...so cute!

Roksana: What? It was just a thank you. **Just** a thank you.

Kyandi: Uh-huh. If you say so.

Roksana: You are so weird.

Kyandi: Only a little.

Roksana: Try again.

Kyandi: A lot?

Roksana: Ding, ding, we have a winner.

Kyandi: Whatever. Everyone, please enjoy and review.

Roksana: We shall return as soon as possible.

Kyandi: Bye-bye!


	8. Announcement

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Hey everyone, it's Kyandi-sama here! Sorry for getting your hopes up, thinking this was a new chapter. While there is a new chapter coming, I have a few announcements that I just had to get out to everyone.

First and foremost, recently, I've been a slump. Long story short, a lot of things have happened to me recently. As I've said before, I've moved recently and with the move...a lot of things I've kept buried, have come to light. A lot of bad memories I really wish I didn't have and all that. Not to mention, I've been forced to realize that most of my family and those around me, don't really support me in my writing and drawing, despite the fact that it makes me really happy and has been how I've dealt with a lot of crap in my life over the years. So lately I've had a lot of stress and just haven't had the will or motivation to crank out chapters.

I even considered quitting writing and drawing.

Thankfully, that period only lasted for about four days.

Instead of quitting, I decided that this girl is going back to school! Starting in the fall, I'll be going back to college for a double major in journalism and photography. So wish me luck on that! Sadly, that means that I'm going to have less time for chapters, but I promise, I will still be bringing you chapters as often as I can! I really wish I could get my chapter release on a schedule, but, unfortunately, my brain doesn't work that way. To make up for this decrease, I have some big news.

First off, of course that means that I'm going to try to release as many chapters during the summer as I can. This does not, however, pertain to my Nexus Mage stories. I don't know if you guys have heard, but there was an announcement for a spin-off sequel to Fairy Tail!

EPPPP!

I'm so excited because, personally, I was rather disappointed with the ending to Fairy Tail. I mean, don't get me wrong, I loved the whole story of Fairy Tail, but, come on Hiro Mashima should of had an ending in mind. Even I have my endings somewhat planned out way before I reach the end. But that's me. Hiro Mashima brought us the greatness that is Fairy Tail, so I can't be too harsh.

Anyway, back to my news.

So, yeah, with this announcement, I have decided to put Nexus Mage on a _**temporary**_ hiatus. Let me put your fears to rest now because I will **not** leave it that way. I simply want to find out more about this new series before I continue with the story. Depending on what the new series is like...Nexus Mage just might get a sequel, too.

We will see.

Now for the biggest announcement.

Drum roll, please.

 **I'M GOING TO ANIME FEST!**

That's right, everyone, I'm finally getting the time to go to an anime convention. So, this August, I'm going to be at the AnimeFest in Dallas. If any of you are going to be in the area, then drop by and say hello! I'll be dressed like my dear avatar, Kyandi.

Wolf tail and wolf ears, all.

The striped stockings were difficult to find, by the way.

So, yeah! I hope to see some of you there. I'll be there on the third day, so come and say hello!

With that, I've delivered all of my announcements. I will try to get some new chapters out for my current stories and be sure to check out the three new stories I've just released.

I love you all and thank you all for your continued support!

Love,

Kyandi Akatensei


End file.
